smash and grab

en-noun

smash and grab (countable and uncountable, plural smash and grabs)

Aggiss and Cowie are smash and grab artists, eclectically borrowing from a range of different dance and performance styles and making them into their own inimitable blended form.

2006, Liz Aggiss, Billy Cowie, Anarchic Dance, page 5

My biggest regret is that such a broad and eclectic approach, while in important respects appropriate for a foray into only partly charted territory, inevitably means that I treat some fascinating literatures in a 'smash and grab' manner—I do not do justice to their intrinsic complexity or subtlety.

2012, Christopher Pollitt, New Perspectives on Public Services, page x

His career has been interpreted over the last century or more as being symptomatic of a wide range of forces thought to be at work in al-Andalus in his day, ranging from sheer smash and grab brigandage to incipient Hispanic nationalism, and from the alienation of indigenous neo-Muslims to a last gasp resistance on the part of a dwindling Christian minority trying to preserve their culture from total extinction.

2012, Roger Collins, Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796-1031

What Campbell calls the politics of smash and grab lambasted the sexism of the industrial workers and laid bare the shoddy treatment of women, hidden by images of women's heroic attempts to support their men and communities through the long and bitter industrial struggles of the early 1980s.

2012, Valerie Walkerdine, Luis Jimenez, Gender, Work and Community After De-Industrialisation, page 162

Arsenal were desolate but it would have been a real smash-and-grab had they hung on for three points after Liverpool showed most of the ambition and moments of quality in a game high on drama but short on class.

2014 December 21, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport

Kenneth Saltman (2007a) has argued we are living in an era of “smash-and-grab” privatization.

2015, Kristen L. Buras, Jim Randels, & Kalamu ya Salaam, Pedagogy, Policy, and the Privatized City

(by extension, often attributively) An act of theft, appropriation, or other form of gaining advantage at another's expense that is done quickly and audaciously.

kapkaç

act of theft, appropriation, or other form of gaining advantage at another's expense done quickly and audaciously


hearthless

It was not a singer of the fireside, but a hearthless wanderer, who put in all hearts the Anglo-Saxon's simple "Home, Sweet Home."

1906, Henry Watterson, The compromises of life, page 343

(figuratively, by extension) Without a home.


superspreader

But whether they intend it or not, celebrities, politicians and others with large online followings can be superspreaders – not of the coronavirus but of dangerous or false information.

2020 July 1, Shira Ovide, “Bogus Ideas Have Superspreaders, Too”, in The New York Times, published 2 July 2020 (updated), →ISSN, archived from the original on 2021-07-23

"We have also imposed penalties on nearly two dozen additional Pages, groups or accounts linked to these 12 people," Facebook said in a blogpost titled "How we're taking action against vaccine misinformation superspreaders".

2021 August 19, “Facebook Removes Dozens of Vaccine Misinformation ‘Superspreaders’”, in The Straits Times, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-10-24

The Daily Beast received a missive that Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) sent SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman on Monday, questioning whether the half-dozen disinformation superspreaders—including supplement hawker Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who had Paycheck Protection Program loans absolved this year had fulfilled all the requirements of the program.

2021 October 26, William Bredderman, “Anti-vaxxers Got $1 Million-Plus in Forgiven PPP Loans. Now Lawmakers Want Answers.”, in The Daily Beast, archived from the original on 2022-01-14

(by extension) A person or thing responsible for the widespread distribution of something regarded as dangerous or undesirable (for example, misinformation).


head fake

The head fake is the pattern that causes support and resistance traders the most headaches. If a market reaches a support or resistance level and immediately reverses, it can be a straightforward move to climb on board in the direction of the reversal.

2007, George A. Fontanills, Getting Started in Commodities, John Wiley & Sons, page 203

(by extension) Any analogously misleading situation, such as a brief rise before a fall on the stock market.


gateless

First, Negroes are trapped—as many whites are trapped—in inherited, gateless poverty.

2004, Ronald H. Bayor, The Columbia Documentary History of Race and Ethnicity in America

We're left to our own devices, you and I, emancipated and gateless.

2013, Steve Erickson, Tours of the Black Clock: A Novel

He had assumed he would always be independent and gateless.

2018, Michael Ondaatje, Warlight, page 278


boathook

(by extension) A pole or rod with such a hook at one end.


apophatic

en-adj

apophatic (comparative more apophatic, superlative most apophatic)

more apophatic (comparative)
most apophatic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek ἀποφατικός (apophatikós, “negative”).

uder

Here is a sudden interruption of remorseless, detailed exposition with a triple-punch of one-sentence paragraphs of self-indentification (2.1–2.4), and of an apophatic, negative kind, statements of what communists are not, have not, do not—[…]

2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC

(by extension) That passively defines a thing by describing what it is not characteristic of.


paralympic

(by extension) Pertaining to disability sport in general.


Ringo

From ring + -o. From the stage name of one of the Beatles, Ringo Starr, actually named Richard Starkey, the drummer of the quartet. From ring, from the rings worn by Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey.

(by extension, countable) A nickname for a drummer.


seroconversion

en-noun

seroconversion (countable and uncountable, plural seroconversions)

en:change between the states of seronegativity and seropositivity, in either direction

(biology, medicine, broadly) Change between the states of seronegativity and seropositivity, in either direction: either the process of this change or an instance of it.

en:change from seronegativity to seropositivity

(often strictly) Such change in the negative-to-positive direction, as a result of infection or immunization: the development of specific antibodies in the blood serum.

vasta-aineiden kehittyminen

development of antibodies in blood serum


Matterhorn

A second feature is the Matterhorn of inflation that dominates the scene. The average postwar recession showed a 1.4 per cent decline in industrial wholesale prices.

1970 August 14, Henry J. Taylor, “Where Do We Stand Now?”, in Prescott Evening Courier

Meanwhile, soaring oil prices and plummeting real energy yields from liquid fuels have already left economic carnage in their wake, as a fragile global financial system perched on a Matterhorn of debt has been dealt blow after blow by the failure of the real economy to expand as expected.

2012, Richard Heinberg, Hedge your Bets in the Peak Oil Debate

(by extension) Something difficult to achieve or to surmount.


GIF

(Internet slang, loosely) Any short video without audio, usually one which loops.

(Internet, by extension) Any short video, in a format directly supported by HTML5 (ie. GIF, MP4, WebM)


point the bone

en-verb

point the bone (third-person singular simple present points the bone, present participle pointing the bone, simple past and past participle pointed the bone)

points the bone (present singular third-person)
pointing the bone (participle present)
pointed the bone (participle past)
pointed the bone (past)

(Australia, by extension) To blame someone.


pearly gates

After the description in Revelation 21:21.


get the drop on

get<,,got,got􂀿UK􂁀:gotten􂀿US􂁀> the drop on

get the drop on (third-person singular simple present gets the drop on, present participle getting the drop on, simple past got the drop on, past participle (UK) got the drop on or (US) gotten the drop on)

gets the drop on (present singular third-person)
getting the drop on (participle present)
got the drop on (past)
got the drop on (UK participle past)
gotten the drop on (US participle past)

We’re always getting the drop on our competitors because the owner really knows the business and can act fast.

The petty critic in me would say the show could’ve done a better job of revealing how she got the drop on the Night King instead of just Deus Ex Arya’ing the situation, but it’s a very satisfying moment, so we’ll let it pass.

2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-05-31

(transitive, informal, by extension) To obtain an advantage over another person, by acting before that person.


front line

With such results possible on the front line of teaching, the only question remaining is whether much of the education industry will overcome its ....

2004 December 20, “Reading problems? It's time to consider phonics”, in Chicago Tribune

With Donald J. Trump in office, using Twitter as a cattle prod to shock the country to attention multiple times a day […] there was a sense that every day on the site was a battle. That attitude was reflected in users who saw themselves as soldiers, eternally fighting to shift the front lines of the discourse an inch or two in the correct direction.

2023 July 10, James Poniewozik, “The Twitter Watch Party Is Over”, in The New York Times

(by extension) A site of a conflict, effort, or controversial matter of any kind.


hellspawn

en-noun

hellspawn (plural hellspawn or hellspawns)

(by extension) Any monster; a vicious fiend or villain.


Skopjan

(by extension, neither derogatory, nor offensive, simple identification) Of, from, or pertaining to North Macedonia, especially in Greek media.

neither derogatory; nor offensive; simple identification; neither derogatory; nor offensive; simple identification


Skopjan

(by extension, sometimes derogatory, sometimes offensive) Someone from North Macedonia, especially in Greek media.


spoonmeat

spoonmeat (countable and uncountable, plural spoonmeats)

(obsolete, by extension) Patronizingly simplistic material; pablum.


jelly roll

(by extension, US slang) The female genitalia, sexual intercourse, or a lover.


expansion pack

(video games, by extension) An add-on for a video game that includes additional content and is typically sold separately.


at the expense of

(by extension, idiomatic) At one's responsibility.


zeriba

Borrowed from Arabic زَرِيبَة (zarība, “pen, cattle pen”).

bor

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) advanced this morning to Baker Pasha’s zariba.

(by extension) An improvised stockade, particularly those similarly located and constructed.

[…] forming a zariba, or square, to resist cavalry.

(by extension) A camp of troops employing such an enclosure.

Once you had passed the initial zareba of fruit stands, souvenir stands, ice-cream stands, and the lair of the enthusiast whose aim in life it was to sell you picture postal-cards, and had won through to the long walk where the seats were, you were practically alone with Nature.

1910 May 28, P. G. Wodehouse, “Deep Waters”, in Collier’s, volume 45, page 18

[…] a small withered soldier sat by the prison door with a gun between his knees and the shadows of the palms pointed at him like a zareba of sabres.

1940, Graham Greene, chapter 2, in The Power and the Glory, London: Vintage, published 2001

The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.

1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick, London: Collins

Owing to his obiter dicta having to be filtered through a zareba of white hair, it was not always easy to catch exactly what Mr. Cornelius said.

1961, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in Ice in the Bedroom, New York: Simon & Schuster, page 52

(by extension) Any wild and barbed barrier, evocative of a briar or thorn patch.


rain dance

(by extension) Any sequence of arbitrary actions performed in order to achieve a goal.


Nuremberg defense

en-noun

Nuremberg defense (plural Nuremberg defenses)

/ˈnjʊəɹəmbəːɡ dɪˈfɛns/

Albert Speer
Alfred Rosenberg
Franz von Papen
Hans Frank
Nuremberg Charter
Nuremberg trials
Rudolf Hess
Wilhelm Frick

An allusion to a defense used by former Nazi officials prosecuted during the Nuremberg trials after World War II. The trials were held in Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany.

A relatively novel legal issue was raised by dissenters who contended that they did not so much oppose war in general as the Viet Nam war in particular. This contention, which became known as the Nuremberg defense, was raised by some young men who did not qualify as conscientious objectors and who were prosecuted for refusing to submit to induction.

1967, “The Nuremberg Defense”, in Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, volume 25, part 2, Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 936, column 1

In United States v. Berrigan, a Federal court in Maryland laid down a legal blueprint for the treatment of war protest cases where an attempt was made to invoke the "Nuremberg defence." Father Philip Berrigan and three others stood charged with injuring the property of the United States Government, mutilating records filed in a public office of the United States, and hindering the administration of the Military Selective Service Act.

1980 January, Gary Komarow, “Individual Responsibility under International Law: The Nuremberg Principles in Domestic Legal Systems”, in The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, volume 29, number 1, London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 28

Even during the Vietnam War, in the Pentagon Papers case, a standing objection would not have barred the assertion of a Nuremberg defense by those who committed the civil disobedience.

1985 October, Jules Lobel, “The Limits of Constitutional Power: Conflicts between Foreign Policy and International Law”, in Virginia Law Review, volume 71, number 7, Charlottesville, Va.: Virginia Law Review Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, footnote 452, page 1158

[pages 413–434] The modern Nuremberg Defenses are the antithesis of the original defense: criminal defendants today build a defense based on the reasoning and principles used by the Allied nations to convict Germans at Nuremberg. There are essentially two modern Nuremberg Defenses: the Citizen's Duty and the Citizen's Privilege. [...] Under the Citizen's Duty defense, defendants assert that they could be held liable for complicity with international crimes if they fail to take action to prevent such crimes. [...] [page 416] Under the Citizen's Privilege formulation of the Defense, the Nuremberg Principles are joined with the statutory and common law privileges allowing citizens to prevent crime. This then creates a "citizen's privilege" to break domestic law.

1989 January, Frank Lawrence, “The Nuremberg Principles: A Defense for Political Protestors”, in Hastings Law Journal, volume 40, number 2, San Francisco, Calif.: Hastings College of the Law, University of California, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-01-05, part II (The Modern Nuremberg Defenses), pages 413–414 and 416

The American judiciary's narrow interpetation of the standing requirement under the Nuremberg Principles has eviscerated the Nuremberg defense and limited its application to a narrow range of cases. [...] The judiciary, in rejecting defendants' standing to raise the Nuremberg defense, ignores the recognized privilege of citizen intervention to prevent the commission of a crime.

1991 fall, Matthew Lippman, “Nuremberg: Forty Five Years Later”, in Connecticut Journal of International Law, volume 7, number 1, Hartford, Conn.: Connecticut Journal of International Law Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1; republished in Guénaël Mettraux, editor, Perspectives on the Nuremberg Trial, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, part IX (Lowering the Procedural Barriers: Recognizing the Nuremberg Defense for Political Protestors), page 539

An area in which one may indeed use the international defence, like the Nuremberg defence, though with little success, is opposition to nuclear weapons and other situations where civil disobedients set themselves against military combat. [...] Therefore, civil disobedients' interference in the production of weapons is not criminally culpable, but rather clearly excusable as avoiding the violation of a more serious law. Although this defence has had little success so far, it is worth brandishing and counts amongst the defences preferred by civil disobedients.

2004, María José Falcón y Tella, “The Positive Aspect”, in Peter Muckley, transl., Civil Disobedience (Monographs on International Law and Human Rights; 7), Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, page 216

Three nuns, Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platte, were jailed for between 30 and 41 months for attempting in 2002 a 'citizen weapons inspection', public exposure and symbolic disarmament of a Minuteman III nuclear missile silo near New Raymer, Colorado. [...] At their trial in 2003, however, US District Judge Robert Blackburn barred the jury from hearing international law and Nuremberg defences.

2011, Michael Head, “Espionage, Official Secrets and Sabotage”, in Crimes against the State: From Treason to Terrorism, Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate; republished Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 2016, page 143

(US law, by extension) An explanation offered as a defense to criminal or wrongful behavior, claiming that one is justified in not obeying a governmental order or a domestic law because the order or law is itself unlawful.


Heilsgeschichte

(by extension) Any interpretation of history as leading to eventual well-being, as e.g. in Marxism.


warp and woof

warp and woof (countable and uncountable, plural warps and woofs)

The warp and woof of our lives, sensible, sensitive, a veritable 911, she was called upon whenever something went wrong.

2001, Ellen Perry Berkeley, Simi Berman, At Grandmother’s Table: Women Write about Food, Life and the Enduring Bond Between Grandmothers and Granddaughters, page 85

He unconsciously uses the fitting word and phrase to designate the situation in which he finds himself, thus the fitting word and phrase, the well-chosen modifier and forcible verb become part of the warp and woof of his speech.

1907, National Education Association of the United States, Addresses and Proceedings, page 496

… the “manifest destiny” theory that justifies the stealing of all territory contiguous to our own, and kindred topics, constitute the warp and woof of conversation.

1857, Hinton Rowan Helper, The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet it, page 406

(by extension) The fundamental structure of any process or system.


-core

Derived from hardcore (“hardcore punk; a particularly fast and intense form of punk rock”).

maso(chist) + -core → masocore (“a genre of games where survival and winning are intentionally made extremely difficult”)

mumble + -core → mumblecore (“an American independent film movement or subgenre, characterised by low-budget production, etc.”)

nerd + -core → nerdcore (“the most dedicated nerds”)

homo + -core → homocore (“an artistic and musical movement dealing with issues of sexual and gender prejudice”)

(by extension) Denoting a genre, movement, subculture, or group.


clearing house

The mixed load is likely to have come from Rotterdam, one of Europe's key clearing houses for drugs

2011, Samuel West (narrator), Smugglers TV series (ep. 2),

(figuratively, by extension) A hub of collection, maintenance, and distribution of goods, information etc.


mixed nuts

The United States standard of identity comes from 21 CFR 164.110.

Multiracial, mulatto, mixed-nuts, halfies: Whatever you want to call us today, we remain the fastest growing demographic in our country.

2024 August 4, Danzy Senna, “In Kamala Harris’s Blackness, I See My Own”, in The New York Times, →ISSN


safety net

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed he was in "angry mode" after the surprise home loss to Arsenal suddenly put pressure on their top-four hopes in the Premier League - although the Champions League final against Manchester City could yet prove the most glittering safety net.

2021 May 15, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport

The TSSA said that access to the furlough scheme should be reinstated for the cross-Channel operator to protect jobs, while the RMT said a financial 'safety net' was needed to prevent Eurostar "tipping over". It follows similar but unheeded calls made at the very start of the pandemic, when international travel fell by more than 95% and Eurostar was forced to scale back its operation to just one service between London and Paris each day.

2022 January 12, “Network News: Unions urge government to provide financial support for Eurostar”, in RAIL, number 948, page 6

(figuratively, by extension) Anything, such as a governmental program, that provides security against extreme disadvantage or misfortune.

turvaverkko

figuratively: anything that provides security


LARPer

No actual Marxist would ever do this. Hinkle is not a leftist; he's a LARPer appealing to racists and colonialists.

2022 September 10, @BenjaminNorton, Twitter

(by extension, derogatory) Someone who pretends to be part of a movement or group, often for the sake of gaining social status.


Muscovy

Borrowed from Latin Moscovia, derived from Russian Москва́ (Moskvá).

The Russian Federation's war against Ukraine is now in its eighth year. Invaders from Muscovy have been attacking Ukrainians in their homeland every day for 2,563 days.

2021, Michael MacKay, “4:45 PM · Feb 26, 2021”, in Twitter, Twitter


cream in one's jeans

en-verb

cream in one's jeans (third-person singular simple present creams in one's jeans, present participle creaming in one's jeans, simple past and past participle creamed in one's jeans)

creams in one's jeans (present singular third-person)
creaming in one's jeans (participle present)
creamed in one's jeans (participle past)
creamed in one's jeans (past)

First time I was in here I come in with a Chinese M.P. We busted right in, that M.P. creamed in his jeans when he sees this colonel.

1951, Donald R. Morris, China Station, Farrar, Straus, and Young, page 52

Myrna was certain the woman would cream in her jeans at this opportunity to be a good neighbor.

2001, Warren Adler, The Housewife Blues, page 101

(idiomatic, vulgar, by extension) To be thoroughly excited or delighted.


mithridate

en-noun

mithridate (countable and uncountable, plural mithridates)

Mithridates VI of Pontus
Pontus
mithridate

From Middle English mitridate and methridat, from Old French mithridat, from Late Latin mithridatum and mithridatium, from Latin Mithridātīus (“of or related to Mithridates”), from Mithridātēs + -ius, from Ancient Greek Μιθριδάτης (Mithridátēs), the Greek form of the name of Mithridates VI of Pontus. Doublet of mithridatium, mithridatum, and mithridaticon.

metridat

supposed universal antidote against poison

The contemplation was a mithridate to a pestered conceipted minde.

1587, Angell Day translating Longus as Daphnis and Chloe, sig. C3v

That which maketh me most both to sorrow and wonder, is that musick (a methridat for melancholy) should make him mad.

1592, John Lyly, Midas..., act IV, scene iv, line 47

(historical, pharmacology) Any of various historical medicine, typically an electuary compounded with various poison, believed to derive from Mithridates VI and to serve as a universal antidote.

(archaic, figuratively, by extension) Synonym of cure.


lower deck

(nautical, by extension) The members of a ship's company who are not officers.


yellow jersey

/ˌjɛləʊ ˈdʒɜːzi/

Calque of French maillot jaune: maillot (“jersey, shirt; vest”) + jaune (“yellow”, adjective).

The timing of the incident raised the question, almost certainly destined to remain unanswered, of whether, having allowed the escapers to pass by unhindered, the culprit had waited specifically for the yellow jersey group before sowing his mischief.

2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-03-31

(by extension) A cyclist who wears such a jersey or shirt; hence, the leader of a stage of a cycling race, or the winner of a cycling race.


I'm thirsty

أَنَا عَطْشَانَة

ʔanā ʕaṭšāna

ฉันหิวน้ำ (chăn hĭw náam) (generic, colloquial) (add particles: ครับ (kráp) - male or ค่ะ (kâ) female for politeness)

(more generally) I need something, or want something a lot.


débouché

The Century
The débouchés were ordered widened to afford easy egress.

(archaic, by extension) A market for goods.


fettler

(by extension) Someone who fiddles or tinkers with things.


whizbang

She [Agatha Christie] has produced a whizzbang surprise which I am unable even to hint at without spoilsporting.

(by extension) Someone or something that holds an explosive amount of success, skill or effectiveness.


zapatera

(loosely) An olive defective because of bruises, wormholes, etc.


Mazola party

The term came to prominence in North America in the 1970s following the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

(by extension) Any group event that involves slathering in oil, such as bikini-clad oil wrestling.


by dint of

Hierocles [of Alexandria] in this Place follows the Thought of Socrates, who in the Phædon of Plato deplores the hard Fate of Men, who by dint of Hearing the Ignorant diſpute and contradict every thing, imagine with themſelves that there is no ſuch thing as clear, ſolid and ſenſible Reaſons; and perſuade themſelves that every thing is uncertain.

1707, [André] Dacier, “Verses XXI, XXII, and XXIII”, in [anonymous], transl., The Life of Pythagoras, with His Symbols and Golden Verses. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, footnote (a), page 265

As a development organization, it [the United Nations Development Programme] competes with other parts of the UN system for funds and attention, but more especially with the World Bank, which has become a substantial presence in developing countries, in terms of resources and influence. UNDP has also retained a coordination role, by dint of history and because of its broad mandate. But the two roles do not sit easily.

2012, Stephen Browne, “The Future of the UN Development System”, in United Nations Development Programme and System, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, page 108

This is a book about poverty. It is a book about why some people in seventeenth and early-eighteenth-century England ended up so destitute that they called upon formal poor relief for support. [...] You were more likely to end up poor if you were landless, or lived away from your relatives, or simply by dint of being female.

2014, Jonathan Healey, “Preface”, in The First Century of Welfare: Poverty and Poor Relief in Lancashire, 1620–1730, Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, Boydell & Brewer, page XII

(by extension) Because of; by reason of.


run for the roses

en-noun

run for the roses (plural runs for the roses)

The time had come, Dundee acknowledged, to decide if he was serious about making a run for the roses. It was only mid-1990, but presidential campaigns had evolved into two-year affairs, and if he really had that famous "fire in his belly," now was the time.

1984, Lawrence Sanders, The Passion of Molly T., page 226

I thought about leaps of faith, runs for the roses, and reaching for the stars.

2007, Kathleen Bacus, Calamity Jayne Heads West, page 136

(idiomatic, by extension) A hard-fought competition or demanding challenge of any kind.


Cronenbergian

en-adj

Cronenbergian (comparative more Cronenbergian, superlative most Cronenbergian)

more Cronenbergian (comparative)
most Cronenbergian (superlative)

"Aren't you HORRIFIED by my FREAKISH, CRONENBERGIAN METAMORPHOSIS?"

2009, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), Number 1503: Nonplussed

(by extension) Pertaining to body horror.


come in from the cold

en-verb

come in from the cold (third-person singular simple present comes in from the cold, present participle coming in from the cold, simple past came in from the cold, past participle come in from the cold)

comes in from the cold (present singular third-person)
coming in from the cold (participle present)
came in from the cold (past)
come in from the cold (participle past)

/ˈkʌm‿ɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkəʊld/

John le Carré
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Literally, the term refers to someone who is outdoors when the weather is cold coming indoors to a warm place. The idiomatic senses were popularized by the title of the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) by the British author John le Carré (1931–2020); “the Cold” is a pun on the Cold War, during which the novel is set.

Long an outsider in Western politics, Portugal came in from the cold after the 1974 Carnation Revolution.

(by extension) To gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before.

tulla esiin pimennosta

to gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before


all-you-can-eat

Last year, when they came out with their all-you-can-eat, $19.95 per month service, it nearly brought them down.

1998 January 19, Network World, volume 15, number 3

Nokia has unveiled its all-you-can-eat Comes With Music package for the United Kingdom[…]

(figuratively, by extension) Offering unlimited service for a fixed price per time period.

makan sepuasnya

offering unlimited service for a fixed price per time period


barebone

(by extension) Something that contains nothing but the essentials; something that fits the bare minimum.


beanbrawl

The Sox had fought their way out of the doldrums, just as they'd done in April in their beanbrawl with the Detroit Tigers--another game that involved Parque.

2000 July 21, Ted Cox, “Sports Section”, in Chicago Reader

(by extension, informal) A fiercely competitive baseball game.


Neanderthal

Joachim Neander
Kalmbach Media
Neanderthal 1

From obsolete German Neanderthal, now spelled Neandertal, the name of a valley (German Tal, older also spelled Thal) near Düsseldorf where the first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856. A hollow near the valley was known as Neanderhöhle (“Neander Hollow”) and Neandershöhle (“Neander’s Hollow”) in the early 19th century, and the valley had been renamed to Neanderthal in 1850, in honour of the German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). Before, the valley was known as das Gesteins (literally “The Rocks [sg.]”) and Hundsklipp (literally “Dog Cliff”).
The name of Joachim Neander is based on the Ancient Greek translation (νέος (néos) + ᾰ̓νήρ (anḗr)) of his original surname Neumann (“Newman”).
The pronunciation with the "th" sound (/θ/) is a spelling pronunciation; the original German word is pronounced with a "t" sound (/t/).

(by extension) Old-fashioned, opposed to change.


South Britain

(historical or loosely) England and Wales.


magic word

/ˌmædʒɪk ˈwɜːd/

When someone offers you drugs, the magic word is "no".

(by extension) Any word that is considered very significant in a certain situation or context.


Danegeld

Inherited from Middle English danegeld, from Dane, genitive plural of Dan (“Dane”), plus geld (“geld, tribute, payment”). Apparently modeled on a Scandinavian word such as Old Danish Danegjeld), from Old Norse *Danagjald, from the genitive plural of Danir (“Danes”) + gjald (“payment, tribute”).

The best now pay danegeld to the sloths, the greedy, the manipulators. And congress has legitimized the channels of deceit through laws which pay danegeld to the most strident noise makers.

1989, Irwin M. Ryan, The Last Congress, Remco

But this part of the industry still had to pay Danegeld to the already over-endowed City.

This is not just a question of intelligent men selling out or having to pay Danegeld to the fundamentalists and the unions; ...

He notes how 'the Conservatives confusedly thought that they had to pay danegeld to the Left and did so reluctantly and inappropriately, ...

When the challenge of the barbarians finally came , Rome had to pay Danegeld to buy off the marauders.

1963, Max Lerner, America as a Civilization: Culture and personality

What's unfair is that we make it tough for young people to get a job unless they pay danegeld to a four-year college to get a certificate that says it's okay to employ them.


slack-jawed

en-adj

slack-jawed (comparative more slack-jawed, superlative most slack-jawed)

more slack-jawed (comparative)
most slack-jawed (superlative)

She brought to the stage the barefoot, slack-jawed frontiersmen found on postcards in every convenience store and tourist trap in the Ozarks.

2002, Brooks Blevins, Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarkers and their Image, page 262

But driving a car—particularly the supersize models—really should demand more concentration than, say, slouching slack-jawed in front of the wide screen in your den.

2005 July 24, Michelle Cottle, “My Roving Barcalounger”, in Time, archived from the original on 2005-07-28

(by extension) Unsophisticated or unthinking; dimwitted in appearance.


turnspit

(archaic, derogatory, by extension) A person engaged in some menial occupation.


soup up

en-verb

soup up (third-person singular simple present soups up, present participle souping up, simple past and past participle souped up)

soups up (present singular third-person)
souping up (participle present)
souped up (participle past)
souped up (past)

They are dickering over a tax cut small enough, in a bill "souped" up with gadgets, to escape or override a veto.

1948, Harley L. Lutz, "Taxes and Jobs," Institute of Business and Economic Problems: A Series of Lectures, page 25

(by extension) To embellish with many additions.


he who smelt it dealt it

賊喊捉賊

a person calling attention to or complaining about a fart

Wer den Furz zuerst gerochen, dem ist er aus dem Arsch gekrochen.

(colloquial, by extension) Used to suggest that a person calling attention to or complaining about a given problem may in fact be the source of the problem.


day of reckoning

en-noun

day of reckoning (plural days of reckoning)

The Storm. The Great Awakening. An Avalanche of Truth. There are many names QAnon conspiracy theorists ascribe to the day of reckoning they believe, perpetually and without any substantiation, to be imminent.

2018 December 5, Molly Roberts, “QAnon Says Dec. 5 Will Be Banner Day for Conspiracy Theory, 'The Storm' has Yet to Arrive”, in Newsweek

(by extension) Any time or event at which responsibility will be assigned.


feku

Borrowed from Hindi फेंकू (phẽkū), from फेंकना (phẽknā, “to throw”).

(by extension) A person who makes false promises


unsubstantive

en-adj

unsubstantive (comparative more unsubstantive, superlative most unsubstantive)

more unsubstantive (comparative)
most unsubstantive (superlative)

Labour dismisses Cameron's interest in the environment as a cynical and unsubstantive part of his attempt to decontaminate the Tory brand.

2009 January 16, Nicholas Watt, Patrick Wintour, “To deliver a low-carbon economy you have got to have a vision”, in The Guardian

(by extension) Not having any factual substance.


top gun

(by extension) Someone most highly rated.


spell off

en-verb

spell off (third-person singular simple present spells off, present participle spelling off, simple past and past participle spelled off or (mostly UK) spelt off)

spells off (present singular third-person)
spelling off (participle present)
spelled off (participle past)
spelled off (past)
spelt off (UK participle past)
spelt off (UK past)

(broadly) To participate in a spelling bee.


boots on the ground

First appears c. 1980 in the US. Attributed to the United States General Volney F. Warner, as quoted in the Christian Science Monitor (April 11, 1980) in reference to the Iranian hostage crisis:

Eyes on the page matter, but nothing goes forward without boots on the ground. In my case, students wore the boots that mattered most. Jennifer Greer, a former student who worked for a records management consulting service, agreed to help me with the research and writing.

2009, Elizabeth H. Dow, Electronic Records in the Manuscript Repository, page ix

And while the number of international boots on the ground might have appeared to be large, spread across the vast and difficult territory of Darfur, those 20,000 troops and police looked much less adequate.

2011, Norrie MacQueen, Humanitarian Intervention and the United Nations, page 133

We need boots on the ground to make the border a real barrier. Ten thousand new Border Patrol agents have been authorized by Congress.

2013, J. D. Hayworth, Joe Eule, Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security, ..., page 176

(by extension) Personnel operating in an area of interest.


Elo

From Hungarian Élő, from élő. As a rating system, named after its creator Arpad Elo (1903–1992).

named-after

(by extension, sometimes proscribed) Rating, independent of the underlying algorithm used.


red-faced

en-adj

red-faced (comparative more red-faced, superlative most red-faced)

more red-faced (comparative)
most red-faced (superlative)

A red-faced John edged his way quietly out of the room.

With a red face; flushed, due to emotional or physical causes.

Coming home late and red-faced every night from the pub is not what I expected of you.

The customer gave a red-faced account of the argument with the waiter.

"I can't for the life of me think where I left the tickets!", she cried out, red-faced.

He collapsed, red-faced from the effort, against the door jamb.


freight train

Williams was known as an unstoppable freight train of a guy, a man who was unfazed by pain and unafraid of getting hurt.

2010, Richard D. Jensen, The Nicest Fella: The Life of Ben Johnson. the World Champion Rodeo Cowboy Who Became an Oscar-winning Movie Star, iUniverse

My estimable love and gratitude go out to my family for their continued support and patience in standing by me over the past months while I literally withdrew from life to 'grab a tail feather' and fly with this runaway freight-train of a project.

2010, Carolanne Allen, Living in the Light ... A Message of Love and Healing, Lulu.com, page 367

BenYeshu's theory was that 'these experiments will supply the necessary data as to when and why the freight train of civilization leapt the rails'.

2012, Robert Graves, Seven Days in New Crete, Penguin UK

(by extension) A large, unstoppable force; a juggernaut.


horsetrader

The three subordinates on whom President Roosevelt depends to win his Senate victories are Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, the bull-voiced, heavy-fisted field commander; Pat Harrison of Mississippi, the shrewd committee and cloakroom horsetrader; and James F. Byrnes of South Carolina.

1937 February 22, “Judiciary: Visibility Poor”, in Time

(figuratively, by extension) One who is skillful in transacting or negotiating of any kind.


gillyflower

By folk etymology (with influence from flower) from French girofle, gilofre, from Late Latin caryophyllum, from Ancient Greek καρυόφυλλον (karuóphullon, “dried flower buds of the clove tree”).

der

(by extension) Any clove-scented flower.


plead the Fifth

en-verb

plead the Fifth (third-person singular simple present pleads the Fifth, present participle pleading the Fifth, simple past pled the Fifth or pleaded the Fifth, past participle pled the Fifth)

pleads the Fifth (present singular third-person)
pleading the Fifth (participle present)
pled the Fifth (past)
pleaded the Fifth (past)
pled the Fifth (participle past)

(by extension, informal, humorous) To refuse to answer a question, or refuse to speak, especially when the response would reflect badly on the speaker.


double-team

double-team (third-person singular simple present double-teams, present participle double-teaming, simple past and past participle double-teamed)

double-teams (present singular third-person)
double-teaming (participle present)
double-teamed (participle past)
double-teamed (past)

Obama . . . accused the Clintons of double-teaming him on the campaign trail. "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," he said.

2008 January 21, Kathy Kiely, “Clinton, Obama step up attacks at South Carolina debate”, in USA Today, retrieved 2009-01-06

Movie buffs will love this costume from Beetlejuice. And even if you don't have someone to double team this look with, each costume can easily slay on its own.

2023 September 19, Chaise Sanders, “50 Best Halloween Costumes of All Time, From the Classics to the Truly Unique”, in Cosmopolitan

(transitive, by extension) To deal with or handle a task or individual person by using a team of two people.


Trinacria

From Latin Trīnacria, from Ancient Greek Τρινακρία (Trinakría, “having three headlands”).

der

The triskeles emblem of Sicily.
(by extension) The flag of Sicily.

The triskeles emblem of Sicily.
The flag of Sicily.


don't ask, don't tell

(by extension, often humorous) Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it.


hand someone his head

en-verb

hand someone his head (third-person singular simple present hands someone his head, present participle handing someone his head, simple past and past participle handed someone his head)

hands someone his head (present singular third-person)
handing someone his head (participle present)
handed someone his head (participle past)
handed someone his head (past)

Possibly an allusion to the story of Salome demanding the head of John the Baptist in a charger.

(idiomatic, by extension) To destroy; to defeat utterly.


turn a profit

turn a profit (third-person singular simple present turns a profit, present participle turning a profit, simple past and past participle turned a profit)

turns a profit (present singular third-person)
turning a profit (participle present)
turned a profit (participle past)
turned a profit (past)

The company has not turned a profit from the merger.

(idiomatic, by extension) To gain money or to gain materially.


rogues' gallery

en-noun

rogues' gallery (plural rogues' galleries)

From rogue + gallery. Popularized by American detectives Allan Pinkerton and Thomas F. Byrnes.

By 1859, D. Morier Evans was exhibiting [George] Hudson as the principal character in his rogues' gallery entitled "Facts, Failures and Frauds"; and at the hands of modern economic historians he has been written down as a common swindler.

1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800

The old staple of every demonstration: gully gully may shor hai, Congress Party chor hai—the cry goes up in every alley, Congress Party is a 'rogues' gallery—was very much in evidence.

1997, Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey, page 325

For more than a decade, Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, masterminded a vast, clandestine and hugely profitable enterprise whose mission boiled down to this: selling to a rogues' gallery of nations the technology and equipment to make nuclear weapons.

2006 February 6, “The Man Who Sold the Bomb”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) Any group of lawbreakers or other disreputable characters.


down at heel

en-adj

down at heel (comparative more down at heel, superlative most down at heel)

more down at heel (comparative)
most down at heel (superlative)

For the likes of her, the down-at-heels support of Hoboken pier was plenty good enough.

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1

Last year, he was down at heel, homeless and had an erratic relationship with his family.

2003, Lynda Lee-Potter, "Sex-crazed fans . . .," Daily Mail (UK), 27 Dec. (retrieved 20 Jan. 2010)

A down-at-the-heels advertising copywriter when he hit on the idea, he originally meant it as a joke.

2015 March 31, Margalit Fox, “Gary Dahl, Inventor of the Pet Rock, Dies at 78”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Researchers analysed 500 interviews with people in right-wing strongholds in France and Germany, places such as Gelsenkirchen-Ost, a down-at-heel suburb north-east of Essen blighted with high levels of unemployment and where anti-immigrant party Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) garnered nearly a third of the vote in the 2017 elections […]

2020, Noreena Hertz, The Lonely Century, Hodder & Stoughton

(idiomatic, by extension) Shabbily dressed, slovenly; impoverished; shabby, dilapidated.


internal conflict

en-noun

internal conflict (plural internal conflicts)

(by extension) Mental struggle arising from competing feelings, desires, impulses, etc.


psychological warfare

Bill Tilden invented tennis as we now know it. He changed it from the gentlemanly pastime of the 1920s into a professional sport involving stars, strategies and large amounts of money, from a dull and predictable game into a tactical enterprise involving strategy and psychological warfare, net shots, scoops and lobs, all calculated to throw opponents off balance.

1976 December 11, Thom Willenbecher, “Tilden Re-Crucified”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 14


10 Downing Street

[…] he declared from early in his life that he intended to be viceroy of India, as a natural stepping-stone on his way to 10 Downing Street.

2001, Trevor Owen Lloyd, Empire: the history of the British Empire, page 138

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The title or office of the Prime Minister.

[…] explicitly clear, in the way that 10 Downing Street has made it clear in the case of city academies, that it is perfectly legitimate to put people in the House of Lords […]

2006, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee, Propriety and Honours: Interim Findings; Fourth Report of Session 2005-06, volume 29, page 23

(by extension, metonymically) The government of the United Kingdom.


El Dorado

From Spanish el dorado (“the golden one”).

(by extension) Any place of fabulous wealth.


on bended knee

Mr. Skinner said airports would not have to rely as much on their airline tenants to approve expansion. "They will be able to build new gates without going to an airline on bended knee," he said.

1990 November 5, John H. Cushman Jr., “Airports planning for big windfall”, in New York Times, retrieved 2017-11-07

"Howard Dean is the only candidate to have smashed fundraising records, not by going on bended knee to the wealthy but by empowering ordinary Americans to take part in their democracy," Mr Gross said.

2004 February 19, Julian Borger, “Party's over, but the Deaniacs are here to stay”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2017-11-07

(by extension) Supplicatingly, imploringly.


junkyard dog

From junkyard and dog. Non-literal sense popularized by the 1973 Jim Croce song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" (see citation below).

Badder than old King Kong / And meaner than a junkyard dog

1973 Jim Croce, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", from the album Life and Times (song lyrics)

House minority whip . . . Gingrich has earned enmity in abundance for his junkyard-dog tactics.

1992 September 21, Janice Castro, “With Friends Like These ...”, in Time

"I'm gonna hire me a lawyer," he said. "A real junkyard dog."

2004, Peter Maravelis, San Francisco Noir, page 50

(idiomatic, by extension, hyphenated when used attributively) An animal or person with an especially nasty and combative demeanor.


bignum

Then there's the membership fee. A serious bignum.

2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 198

(by extension, computing slang) A very large number.


skip a beat

en-verb

skip a beat (third-person singular simple present skips a beat, present participle skipping a beat, simple past and past participle skipped a beat)

skips a beat (present singular third-person)
skipping a beat (participle present)
skipped a beat (participle past)
skipped a beat (past)

My heart seemed to skip a beat when I parked my car at the old Safeway supermarket. My eyes gaped at the same aisles I had strolled through as a child.

1997, David J. Pelzer, The lost boy: a foster child's search for the love of a family

Her heart seemed to skip a beat. "Halte!" the soldier ordered in a stern voice.

What set it apart and caused my heart to skip a beat were the words printed where the artist's signature usually goes, […]

(by extension, when of a heart) To experience a strong emotion.

THE MEGHA HAD BEEN on the water for some three hours when Piya heard the engine skip a beat.

Indeed, he did not skip a beat, stayed right with his training regimen, and flew out to Seattle on August 8.

2008, Alan Howard Levy, Floyd Patterson: a boxer and a gentleman

(by extension, idiomatic) To momentarily falter.


bucking bronco

(by extension) A spirited or uncontrollable person.


government cheese

(US, politics, economics, by extension) Welfare in general.


Hispano-

(by extension) Relating to South American Spanish speakers.


get it up

get it up (third-person singular simple present gets it up, present participle getting it up, simple past got it up, past participle (UK) got it up or (US) gotten it up)

gets it up (present singular third-person)
getting it up (participle present)
got it up (past)
got it up (UK participle past)
gotten it up (US participle past)

(slang, figurative, by extension) To be enthusiastic about something; to maintain enthusiasm for something.


soften up

soften up (third-person singular simple present softens up, present participle softening up, simple past and past participle softened up)

softens up (present singular third-person)
softening up (participle present)
softened up (participle past)
softened up (past)

(by extension, idiomatic) To appease someone in order to make them more receptive to an idea or proposal.


cacafuego

From Spanish. From the nickname of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, meaning "fire-shitter". See caca, fuego.


bonification

Somewhat confusingly, the bonification – or bonus – is subtracted from the rider's time, not added to it.

2015, Suze Clemitson, P Is For Peloton: The A-Z Of Cycling, page 18

(by extension) A bonus that improves the score a competitor who achieves a milestone.


smoke out

smoke out (third-person singular simple present smokes out, present participle smoking out, simple past and past participle smoked out)

smokes out (present singular third-person)
smoking out (participle present)
smoked out (participle past)
smoked out (past)

The culprit will be smoked out by the end of the day.

(transitive, figurative, idiomatic, by extension) To expose (something or somebody).


capsheaf

en-noun

capsheaf (plural capsheaves or capsheafs)


circumforaneous

en-adj

circumforaneous (comparative more circumforaneous, superlative most circumforaneous)

more circumforaneous (comparative)
most circumforaneous (superlative)

/sɜːkəmfəˈɹeɪnɪəs/

From Latin circumforāneus (“itinerant”), from circum- (“around”) + forum (“marketplace”) + -aneus (“-aneous”).

The reason that this has not been the subject of extended commentary in science studies was that the path along which thermodynamics wrought its magic was unprecedentedly indirect and circumforaneous:[…]

2002, Philip Mirowski, Machine dreams: economics becomes a cyborg science, page 43

(by extension) Indirect, roundabout, or unnecessarily complex.


truther

From truth + -er (occupational suffix) or + -er (“supporter”). For sense 2, directly from name of the 9/11 Truth movement.

For instance, "truthers" who believe in a US government conspiracy to destroy the pentagon

2013, D. Wittkower, Philip K. Dick and Philosophy

Rather, believers of this conspiracy theory (known as Sandy Hook “truthers”) propose that the entire event might have been staged by Homeland Security and FEMA

2014, Lori Badura, Tell It Like It Isn't, page 226

I am calling your attention to it because I think that we JFK truthers may be able to use this film to our advantage.

2014, Ralph Cinque, “A review of the trailer of James Lambert's new film”, in alt.assassination.jfk (Usenet)

(by extension) A conspiracy theorist who does not believe the accepted story about some significant event, fact, etc.


firstie

(informal, by extension) Someone who does something for the first time; a debutant or newbie.


comitial

(by extension) Of or pertaining to a political assembly.


comfort zone

The demanding interview panel took him well out of his comfort zone.

(idiomatic, by extension) The range of circumstances in which a person feels relaxed or able to cope.


absent-minded professor

en-noun

absent-minded professor (plural absent-minded professors)

Snapshot: Jimmy, a third-grader, is an absent-minded professor before his time. He forgets everything, from his lunch box in the morning, to his raincoat

1997, Edward M. Hallowell, When You Worry About the Child You Love, page 38

Judith: I call Jim "The Ditz" when he is the absent-minded professor.

2003, Judith Sherven with James Sniechowski, Be Loved for Who You Really Are, page 172

... a dreamy youth whose siblings teased him for being an absent-minded professor.

2005, Amy Demorest, Psychology's grand theorists: how personal experiences shaped professional ideas, page 174

Professor Oak, the world's leading Pokémon expert, is at once a genius and a bumbling, absent-minded professor

2009, Mark I. West, The Japanification of children's popular culture: from godzilla to miyazaki, page 59

“My brother, the absent-minded professor,” she said, motioning to me with her thumb. “Don't you know why that date looks familiar, silly?

2009, Mitchell Graham, Dead Docket, page 274

(by extension) A person who tends to be oblivious to reality.


Kuban

1954, United American Ukrainian Organizations Committee of New York
"In the south, the Red Army abandoned Krasnodar and all of the Kuban. Nazi forces plunged south into the Caucasian highlands and east to Stalingrad."

(by extension) a geographic region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, Volga delta and the Caucasus.


trainful

trainful (plural trainfuls or trainsful)


diddums

Contraction of did 'em (they) do something (to you)?.

(by extension) A sarcastic commiseration to somebody seen to be complaining too much about hurt feelings.


in terms of

I switched to a different bank for better customer service, but there was little difference in terms of interest rates.

She has no idea how she wants the house to look in terms of décor.

The fact is, "dad" is a designation you could assign – at least in terms of age – to many of Hollywood's biggest male actors.

2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC

(by extension) In relation to a particular aspect; with respect to; as regards; concerning; regarding.


First Family

(by extension) The immediate family of a political chief executive.


Stamford Bridge

(soccer, by extension) Chelsea Football Club itself


Old Trafford

(soccer, by extension) Manchester United Football Club itself.


Highbury

(soccer, historical, by extension) Arsenal Football Club itself


Villa Park

(soccer, by extension) Aston Villa Football Club itself.


White Hart Lane

(soccer, by extension) Tottenham Hotspur Football Club itself.


Molineux

(soccer, by extension) Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club itself.


unturnoffable

en-adj

unturnoffable (comparative more unturnoffable, superlative most unturnoffable)

more unturnoffable (comparative)
most unturnoffable (superlative)

(by extension, of television etc.) Too compelling to stop watching.


rule against perpetuities

en-noun

rule against perpetuities (plural rules against perpetuities)

(law, countable, by extension) Any rule that prevents a testator or other transferor of property from controlling further transfer of his property beyond a certain length of time.


stay tuned

en-verb

stay tuned (third-person singular simple present stays tuned, present participle staying tuned, simple past and past participle stayed tuned)

stays tuned (present singular third-person)
staying tuned (participle present)
stayed tuned (participle past)
stayed tuned (past)

From the operation of dial-tuned radio receivers.

[W]riter-director Sean Penn has found a stark camera style that ignites behavioral sparks. Stay tuned; this kid has talent.

1991 October 7, “Critics' Voices: Movies”, in Time

“Stay tuned on the issues of overcrowding, capital plan, new schools, secondary reform, middle school reform; these are all critical issues,” Mr. Klein said.

2003 September 27, David M. Herszenhorn, “Behind Makeover of Schools, A Bookish 'Kid From Queens'”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-11-05

Riccitiello also said that more on the game’s payment structure will be revealed in February, so I guess we’ll all be staying tuned.

2008 Dec. 10, Luke Plunkett, "Star Wars Old Republic MMO To Be ‘Microtransaction-Based’," kotaku.com (Australia) (retrieved 5 Nov 2012)

(idiomatic, by extension, often as imperative) To wait or remain alert (for new developments or for further information).


Holyrood

From Middle English Holy Rood, Holyrode, holy-rode, holy roode, hali rode, halgorode, equivalent to holy + rood (“crucifix, cross”).
The town in Newfoundland is named after a location near Crewkerne, Somerset.

But Matheson has indicated that the Scottish Government will not be responding to the consultation because transport policy in Scotland is a matter for ministers at Holyrood and not at Westminster.

2020 December 16, “Network News: Scotland set to snub Johnson's Union Connectivity Review”, in RAIL, page 21

Yousaf is almost certain to be confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister in a nominal vote at Holyrood on Tuesday but now has to bridge those divides by bringing the SNP’s warring wings together.

2023 March 27, Severin Carrell, Libby Brooks, “Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National party”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The Scottish Parliament.


Bodleian

Bodleian Library
Sir Thomas Bodley
University of Oxford

From Bodley + -an, named after English diplomat and scholar Sir Thomas Bodley (1545–1613), founder of Oxford University's Bodleian Library.

named-after

(by extension) Of or pertaining to the Bodleian Library.


jam tomorrow

From Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1871), where Alice is offered “jam to-morrow and jam yesterday — but never jam to-day”. This is a pun on a mnemonic for the usage of jam, iam in Latin (note i/j conflation in Latin spelling), which means “now”, but only in the future or past tense, not in the present (which is instead nunc).

The consumption-possibilities curve illustrates the choice which must be made: more jam today means less jam tomorrow; less jam today means more jam tomorrow.

1974, Lawrence H. Officer, Lawrence Berk Smith, Issues in Canadian Economics, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, page 336

A basic human characteristic is the preference for consumption today over consumption tomorrow. Jam today is always better than jam tomorrow, unless sufficient incentive is offered to forgo the immediate enjoyment of today's jam. This is not because of uncertainty about the likely receipt of tomorrow's jam, but merely a property of the passage of time.

1985, Phillip Crowson, Economics for Managers: A Professionals’ Guide, 3rd edition, Macmillan Press, page 26

For one-period optimization, the obvious course of action to maximize consumption is to consume the whole of output by “eating up” the capital stock. The inapplicability of this tactic to an industrializing nation is transparent—it gets a lot of jam for today but leaves little for tomorrow. Jam today has therefore to be balanced against jam tomorrow.

1985, Joel Mokyr, The Economics of the Industrial Revolution, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, page 216

(idiomatic, economics, by extension) Availability of a resource at a future date.


Wesleyan

en-adj

Wesleyan (comparative more Wesleyan, superlative most Wesleyan)

more Wesleyan (comparative)
most Wesleyan (superlative)

(by extension) Of or pertaining to Methodism in general


Barbary Coast

The tango, the Texas Tommy, Walking the Dog, the one step, the fox trot, the shimmy, and all their out-growths, had their origin in the palaces of lust on the Barbary Coast of San Francisco.

1930, Jefferis & Nichols, Safe Counsel or Practical Eugenics, page 200

(by extension) A waterfront area of San Francisco at the time of the gold rush.


age of reason

en-noun

age of reason (usually uncountable, plural ages of reason)

vastuullinen ikä

age at which a person is morally liable for the sins that he or she commits

(by extension) Age at which a person is able to distinguish right from wrong and make their own decisions.

jaren des onderscheids

age at which a person is able to distinguish right from wrong


quantivalence

quantivalence (countable and uncountable, plural quantivalences)

From Latin quantus (“how much”) + English -i- (interfix inserted between morphemes of Latin origin for ease of pronunciation) + Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”)) + -ence (suffix meaning ‘having the condition or state of’), coined by F. O. Ward who communicated it to the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818–1892), leading him to coin the German word Quantivalenz from which valence is derived.

der

(by extension, generally) Equivalence measured quantitatively.


Luddism

From Ludd + -ism, after Ned Ludd, a legendary example.

He walks over to the wine crates holding the LPs, gets infuriated with the brutal Luddism of any man who still deals in vinyl and needle.

2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 134

(by extension, derogatory) Opposition to technological change.


botts

Possibly a modification of Scottish Gaelic boiteag 'maggot'

(by extension) Infection by maggots under the skin of cows, or by sheep maggots in the frontal sinus of sheep.


quadfecta

2008, Milwaukee Magazine, Volume 33, Issues 7-12, page 59,
You can either carry or drag your boat through the tunnel to UPPER NASHOTAH LAKE to complete your chaino—lakes quadfecta.

2010, Tyler DeAngelo, Brad Emmett, Learn Just Enough . . . to Get Laid, Seven Footer Press, US, page 100,
It′s also the definitive Just Enough to Get Laid meal, incorporating cooking, wine, and French in an unstoppable three-pronged attack. Hell, say grace before you eat and you can hit what′s known as the Just Enough quadfecta.

(by extension) A set of four wins at related events; a set of four events.


pothunter

From pot + hunter – in hunting sense, “for the (cooking) pot (to eat)”; in the archeology sense, “seeking old pots (to sell)”.

(sports, by extension) A person who competes solely to win prizes.


caut

en-verb

caut (third-person singular simple present cauteth, present participle cauting, simple past and past participle cauted)

cauteth (present singular third-person)
cauting (participle present)
cauted (participle past)
cauted (past)

If I have done Service to Men in what I have ſaid, I ſhall hope I have done Service to God; and that will be better than a ſilly Speech made for me, full of whining and cauting, which I utterly deſpiſe, and have never been uſed to; yet ſuch a one I expect to have my Ears tormented with, as I am paſſing along the Streets[.]

1722 May 2nd, Ebenezer Elliston, “The Laſt Speech and Dying Words of Ebenezer Elliſton” in Miſcellanies (ed. Jonathan Swift, pub. 1751, volume nine, fifth edition), pages 19–20

(obsolete, by extension, figurative) To make a noise similar to the call of a panther.


issuant

(heraldry, by extension, of an animal) Having only the upper half depicted, especially if because it is issuing from something (such as a division of the field). (Compare naissant.)


paperchase

(by extension) An administration process involving cross-references between many documents; the following of a paper trail.


tallowwood

en-noun

tallowwood (usually uncountable, plural tallowwoods)

The Tallowwood family numbers about 27 genera and nearly 150 species of trees, shrubs and lianas scattered throughout the tropical forests of the world. […]
The tallowwoods
Ximenia L.
These are a small genus comprising five species of widely distributed tropical trees and shrubs. One of them, X. americana L., extends northward into southern Florida.
Tallowwood hog-plum
Ximenia americana L.

1946, Ellwood Scott Harrar, Jacob George Harrar, Guide to Southern Trees, 2nd edition, New York: Dover Publications, published 1962, page 263

(uncommon, by extension) The tropical fruit-tree genus Ximenia.


granulometry

granulometry (countable and uncountable, plural granulometries)

(by extension) The measurement of the size distribution in granular material


let me see

Let me see if I understood you correctly.

Let me see if I have this straight.

(by extension) Used to indicate incredulity; wait a minute; hold on


turkeycock

Equivalent to turkey + cock; see turkey.

(by extension) A pompous or vainglorious person.


nine-tenths

(loosely) Almost all; the vast majority.


changing of the guard

changing of the guard (plural changings of the guard)

All the signs are right this time / You don't have to try so very hard / If you live in this world / You're feelin' the change of the guard

1972, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker (lyrics and music), “Change of the Guard”, performed by Steely Dan

I've moved your mountains and marked your cards / But Eden is burning, either get ready for elimination / Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards

1978, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Changing of the Guards”, in Street-Legal

At the same stressful time, Detroit's automakers will be going through a major changing of the guard: all three companies are expected to get new chief executives in the space of two years.

1989 November 20, S. C. Gwynne, “Running Low On Gas”, in Time, archived from the original on 2010-10-22

NBC has set a date for the changing of the guard at "The Tonight Show." After 17 years, Jay Leno will sign off as host of the venerated late-night talker.

2008 July 21, James Hibberd, “NBC finalizes its late shift”, in Hollywood Reporter, retrieved 2010-07-25

At long last, the referee's whistle was mercifully blown. It had been a sobering and underwhelming tournament, but one that must now fuel the future, with a changing of the guard needed ahead of next year's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

2022 November 29, Ian Mitchelmore, “Wales put out of World Cup misery by England as sobering tournament must signal changing of the guard”, in WalesOnline

(figuratively, by extension) Any situation in which an individual or group charged with a task or responsibilities in an organization is replaced by another individual or group.


pargeting

pargeting (countable and uncountable, plural pargetings)


point man

McCarthy made a name for himself as a point man for a far right-wing current that attacked the Truman administration for the "loss" of China.

2005 March 2, Leslie Feinberg, “Even McCarthy was gay baited”, in Workers World

(idiomatic, by extension) A most trusted assistant or associate; the person upon whom one would most rely.


take point

en-verb

take point (third-person singular simple present takes point, present participle taking point, simple past took point, past participle taken point)

takes point (present singular third-person)
taking point (participle present)
took point (past)
taken point (participle past)

But unlike the intervention in Libya, where France and Britain took point and America “led from behind”, an intervention in Syria would have to be a mostly American affair, and as such it would be done with massive force from the outset.

2012 September 15, “The war in Syria: Death from the skies”, in The Economist

(by extension) To assume a key role in an operation.


ragequit

ragequit (third-person singular simple present ragequits, present participle ragequitting, simple past and past participle ragequit or ragequitted)

ragequits (present singular third-person)
ragequitting (participle present)
ragequit (participle past)
ragequit (past)
ragequitted (participle past)
ragequitted (past)

/ˈɹeɪd͡ʒˌkwɪt/

(intransitive, slang, by extension) To quit (something) in anger.


predicant

en-adj

predicant (comparative more predicant, superlative most predicant)

more predicant (comparative)
most predicant (superlative)

N. Brit. Rev.
the Roman predicant orders


stationkeeping

(by extension) The maintenance of a satellite in geosynchronous orbit over a desired spot.


war of nerves

guerra de nervis

conflict in which demoralizing and frightening tactics are used

A united steel industry appeared to have emerged the victor today in a war of nerves to raise prices on some of its products in the face of White House pressure to hold the price line.

1966 August 5, “Steel Industry Appears To Be Victor in Battle of Prices”, in The Free Lance-Star, USA, retrieved 2010-08-24, page 1

14 of America's best chess players are wielding kings, queens and their chessboard servants in a silent but brutal war. . . . "It's a mental war, it's a war of nerves, of logic, or reasoning, of being a good fighter," said Walter Browne.

1983 July 18, “Small Town Host Big Time Chess Tourney”, in Daytona Beach Morning Journal, retrieved 2010-08-24, page 8A

"We assume that a dangerous brinkmanship, a war of nerves, is under way, but it will not grow into a hot war," the official told Tass.

2009 May 27, Oleg Shchedrov, “Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear”, in Reuters India, retrieved 2010-08-24

(idiomatic, by extension) A situation in which opposed parties refrain from direct conflict but maintain a tense, contentious relationship in which each uses annoyances or intimidating psychological tactics to attempt to dishearten and unnerve the other.

guerra de nervis

situation in which opposed parties maintain a tense, contentious relationship


freedom rider

/ˈfɹiːdəm ˌɹaɪdə/

(Australia, politics, historical, by extension) A participant in a similar excursion undertaken by protesters in Australia in 1965 in opposition to unfair discrimination against Indigenous Australians.


freedom ride

The year of the first Aboriginal freedom ride is the year the principal of Fineflour Central boards up a group of kids in the toilet block roof.

1990, Gillian Mears, “Fineflour”, in Fineflour, St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, published 1997, page 25

Led by young activists, black and white, who were conducting ‘freedom rides’ modelled on those of the civil rights movement in the United States, a change in attitudes was in progress which would lead in 1967 to the removal, by a large majority in a referendum, of the provision in the Constitution that prevented the Parliament from making 'special laws' in the interests of Aboriginals.

1997, Peter Edwards, “Australia on the Eve of the Vietnam War”, in A Nation at War: Australian Politics, Society and Diplomacy during the Vietnam War 1965–1975 (The Official History of Australia’s Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975; 6), St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, page 18

Ann Curthoys is Professor of History at the Australian National University, Canberra. She has written widely on questions of gender, race and ethnicity in Australian history, and is currently working on a history of the Freedom Ride of 1965.

1997, “Contributors”, in Wayne Hudson, Geoffrey Bolton, editors, Creating Australia: Changing Australian History, St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, page vii

Then, in February 1965, Charles Perkins led the famous and extremely effective freedom rides that made him probably Australia's best known civil rights activist. [...] The freedom rides were an extremely dangerous and confronting form of public protest. At one stage the bus was run off the road in Walgett after being pursued by a truck and ten cars, and the bus driver later withdrew from the tour because of safety concerns.

2005, John Chesterman, “Defending Australia’s Reputation: Ending Commonwealth Discrimination”, in Civil Rights: How Indigenous Australians Won Formal Equality, St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, page 76

(Australia, politics, historical, by extension) A similar excursion undertaken by protesters in Australia in 1965 in opposition to unfair discrimination against Indigenous Australians.


colorum

Corruption of Latin in saecula saeculōrum (“for ever and ever, for eternity”)

der

It does not mean, however, that out of the twelve thousand estimated colorum vehicles we have now in Manila have been reduced by four thousand. As long as the colorum operators take the risk of operating illegally on our thoroughfares, ...

1982, Land transportation: proceedings of the First Institute on Transportation, 1980, University of the Philippines. Law Center

"[...] it is clear that they have broken those rules grossly, putting at risk the tens of thousands of TNVs without PA or franchise to commit colorum activities,” said LTFRB Chairman Martin B. Delgra III.

2017 July 18, “Uber, Grab broke the rules by tolerating colorums - LTFRB”, in Manila Bulletin

(Philippines, by extension) A public transport vehicle operating without a franchise or in violation of it.


lost in action

The Bulls were definitely stung by the Hornets at the beginning of this first playoff game. Some Bulls were lost in action.

1995 April 29, Rick Telander, “Jordan Does the Stinging”, in Chicago Sun-Times, retrieved 2010-09-15

[T]he bean sprouts, cilantro, green onions and peanuts—which give pad thai its flavor and crunch—were so soggy or lost in action that no amount of lobster, sugar or spice could save the dish from its torpor.

2001 June 8, Pascale Le Draoulec, “Flashy Thai, Ordinary Food”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 2010-09-15

The President will continue to push for his legislation, but White House officials recognize that, with the election approaching, it won't get any easier.

2004 April 24, Matthew Cooper, “Bush's Bills: Lost In Action”, in Time

(figuratively, by extension, of persons, things, policies, etc.) Rejected, nullified, incapacitated, or rendered unavailable.


state secret

(humorous, by extension) Personal information which someone would like to keep private, even if ultimately not important.


po-po

→ Dutch: popo

Green's Dictionary of Slang
Police officer

From various words by shortening and reduplication.
The "posterior" sense may be reduplication of the initial syllable of that word, with modification of the vowel according to its spelling. Compare German Popo (“bottom”) from Latin pōdex (“anus”).
The "police" sense may come from either the initial syllable of police or the initial letters of the words police officer. Compare PO.

(by extension) A prison officer, corrections officer, prison guard.


fanspeak

From fan + -speak, modeled after Newspeak.

(by extension, informal) The jargon used by fans of any genre of fiction or popular culture in general.


occupational hazard

en-noun

occupational hazard (plural occupational hazards)

The attentions of passionate spinsters were an occupational hazard for all members of the clergy.

1988, Susan Howatch, Glittering Images, page 10

Today he was going to make a few stops at the rare-book shops in the area—an occupational hazard of his new profession.

2008, Steve Berry, The Venetian Betrayal, page 557

Sorry. Asking uncomfortable questions at the most inopportune time is an occupational hazard.

2009, Jon Talton, Concrete Desert, page 201

Student crushes are an occupational hazard. Ask any teacher.

2010, Lisa Gardner, The Neighbor, page 237

Normally I'm a big fan of managers handling performance problems on their staff themselves rather than looking to HR to do it for them, but in this case, since she's putting curses on her manager, I can see an argument for you having a one-time meeting with her and her manager and jointly laying down the law. (Of course, this may just get you added to the list of people she's cursing, but black magic is one of many occupational hazards.)

2013 July 26, Alison Green, “an employee is putting magic curses on her coworkers”, in Ask a Manager, archived from the original on 2023-12-14

(figuratively, by extension) An unpleasant, inconvenient, or unusual circumstance which occurs or is likely to occur during the course of one's employment.

aléas du métier

an unpleasant, inconvenient, or unusual circumstance which occurs or is likely to occur during the course of one's employment


skywalker

Empire State Building
Lewis Hine
New York
New York City

(usually figuratively) One who walks in the sky.

(by extension from the previous) Any ironworker working at a height.

One who walks in the sky.
Any ironworker working at a height.


softa

From Ottoman Turkish صوفته (“theology student”) (modern Turkish softa), from Classical Persian سوخته (sōxta).

bor

(by extension) A fanatic adherent, blind follower


rubout

This high-concept take on low life includes a concealed lethal weapon (by Claire Fontaine); photographic evidence of a rubout (by Torbjorn Rodland); and cryptic, possibly sinister messages galore from Tauba Auerbach, Daniel Knorr, David Lieske and Matias Faldbakken.

2007 June 8, Holland Cotter, “Quirks and Attitude to Burn”, in New York Times

A direct manipulation editor would support, for example, a single rubout key that uses the cursor to find the appropriate character for deletion […]

1990, Michael D. Harrison, Harold Thimbleby, Formal methods in human-computer interaction, page 130

The TS-1000 had ENTER instead of NEW LINE and DELETE instead of RUBOUT.

2002, Brotha G, “ZX81 Prototype Keyboard”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet)

(computing, uncountable, by extension, dated) Synonym of backspace.


double down

en-verb

double down (third-person singular simple present doubles down, present participle doubling down or (nonstandard) double downing, simple past and past participle doubled down or (nonstandard) double downed)

doubles down (present singular third-person)
doubling down (participle present)
double downing (nonstandard participle present)
doubled down (participle past)
doubled down (past)
double downed (nonstandard participle past)
double downed (nonstandard past)

Coordinate term: triple down

Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama all want to get out of Iraq. They all want to double down in Afghanistan.

2007 April 12, Peter Beinart, “The Kosovo Conundrum”, in Time

While 007 has been on extended annual leave as a result of Daniel Craig’s cold feet, Taron Egerton’s thoroughly less urbane secret agent Eggsy Unwin has managed to thoroughly outdo him, with Matthew Vaughn’s sequel to his hit 2015 comedy-thriller doubling down on the qualities that marked its predecessor out from the superspy pack: more star-filled, more gleefully grisly, and reaching new heights of skyscraping silliness.

2017 September 19, Gwilym Mumford, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – spy sequel reaches new heights of skyscraping silliness”, in the Guardian

[Tucker] Carlson, in his keynote, doubled down on Trump’s recent attacks on Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar.

2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents

[Entertainment Company] Blizzard Doubles Down, Says It Will Continue to Silence Players on 'Official Channels'.

2019 October 12, Jason Koebler, “Blizzard Doubles Down, Says It Will Continue to Silence Players on 'Official Channels'”, in Vice

(intransitive, figurative, by extension) To significantly increase a risk, investment, or other commitment; to respond to a challenge (e.g. to an opinion) by reinforcing or extending one's position rather than moderating it. [with on ‘something’]

sijoittaa lisää

significantly increase a risk or commitment


wh-word

(by extension) Any interrogative word from any language.


Chink

There are several possible origins of the term:
* From the Chinese courtesy ching-ching, a reduplication of Mandarin 請／请 (qǐng, “please”). Compare chin-chin, Italian cincin, Portuguese tchim-tchim, tim-tim, Spanish chinchín, French tchin-tchin.
* From the alteration of China.
* From the alteration of Qing (also spelled Ch'ing).
See also Hokkien 親家／亲家 (chhin-ke, “any relative by marriage (to a Chinese family)”).

noncog

(derogatory, by extension, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of perceived East Asian descent.


log flume

(by extension) An amusement park ride where passengers sit in a hollow log and travel along a track or circuit powered mostly by the flow of water.


gobful

[…]But when you speak of love, I am no longer old. I am absolutely full of it. I have crammed great gobsful of it into my music.

1921, Charles David Isaacson, Face to Face with Great Musicians, volume 2, page 197

Three of them were full already – the diggers had scooped up great gobfuls of concrete and soil.

2005, L.J. Adlington, The Diary of Pelly-D, unnumbered page

Mr Laxton:[…]I once had a conversation with someone who was a permanent secretary — a top-notch civil servant in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — who was in the business of handing out big gobfuls of money — billions here, there and everywhere.

2009, British House of Commons East Midlands Regional Select Committee, East Midlands Development Agency and the Regional Economic Strategy: First Report of Session 2008-09, page 29

(UK, slang, by extension) A large portion or amount.


born to the purple

Calque of Ancient Greek πορφυρογέννητος (porphurogénnētos); purple was a luxury color reserved for the Byzantine imperial family.

cal

πορφυρογέννητος

(loosely) Of children, born of prominent or high-ranking parents.


snarler

Tecla was neither a snarler nor a crab, but a good simple lady; yet she was a beata — one of the most temperate species.

1830, The New British novelist: comprising works by the most popular and fashionable writers of the present day, page 123

The domestic snarler is felt to be a curse and an ignoble varlet, since for small reasons, or no reasons, he will disturb domestic peace and engender discomfort.

1847, James Mackay, Joseph Salkeld, editors, The Evergreen, volume IV, page 87

…; his acquaintance with Wordsworth, whose Midas-ears he really persuaded himself to admire ; his intercourse with Godwin ; and his close alliance with that perverse and wrong-headed but brilliant snarler, Hazlitt.

September 1867, Bertie Club Table Talk, "reported by Feuilleton", published in Scott's Monthly Magazine, volume 4, number 3, W. J. Scott (editor), page 695

But Ned had a great opinion of Mrs. Badgery's capabilities, and though forced to admit that her unbending manner and her ability to make good use of her tongue when occasion demanded it, justified the appellation of a snarler, …

1894, Henry Goldsmith, Our Alma: An Australian Story: page 51

I was a snarler. I prided myself on being a snarler. I would go to great lengths to avoid stereotypical feminine behaviour. I thought that in being outrageous or out of control, which I viewed as synonymous, I was thumbing my nose at the patriarchy. My biggest fear about AA was that I would lose my edge. Turn into blancmange.

2010, Kate Jennings, Trouble: Evolution of a Radical: Selected Writings 1970-2010, page 36

(by extension) a person with a disagreeable or antagonistic temperament


becollared

(by extension) wearing a shirt, and thus of an upper class


wrong-foot

en-verb

wrong-foot (third-person singular simple present wrong-foots, present participle wrong-footing, simple past and past participle wrong-footed)

wrong-foots (present singular third-person)
wrong-footing (participle present)
wrong-footed (participle past)
wrong-footed (past)

The Swedish academy had defied bookies’ predictions and wrongfooted critics too many times in the past, and if there was one consensus in the run-up, it was that the prize would not go to Europe, where six of the last ten winners had come from.

2023 October 5, Philip Oltermann, “Jon Fosse’s Nobel prize announces his overdue arrival on the global stage”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(transitive, by extension) To catch (someone) off balance, off guard; to surprise.

(transitive, by extension) To place (someone) at a tactical disadvantage.


escargatoire

(by extension) A large number of snails.


all bets are off

Originally used by sports bookmakers, and in particular horseracing. The bookmaker is not taking any more bets and all existing bets placed on the competition are now null and void. This may have been because the race was cancelled, the starting lineup was substantially changed, or due to an irregularity in the conduct of the race.

(idiomatic, by extension) Anything can happen; any previous preconceptions about what might happen are dismissed.


connect the dots

connect the dots (third-person singular simple present connects the dots, present participle connecting the dots, simple past and past participle connected the dots)

connects the dots (present singular third-person)
connecting the dots (participle present)
connected the dots (participle past)
connected the dots (past)

From the children's pencil and paper puzzle “Connect The Dots”, also known as “Join The Dots”.

If only the Bush team connected the dots, it would see what a nutty war on terrorism it is fighting, explains Mr. Prestowitz.

2003 September 25, Thomas L. Friedman, quoting Clyde Prestowitz, “Connect The Dots”, in New York Times

“I started just connecting the dots between extreme weather and climate change, and then the volume of pushback started to increase quite dramatically,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.

2023 July 9, AP, quoting Chris Gloninger, “‘You should have seen this note’: US meteorologists harassed for reporting on climate crisis”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(by extension, idiomatic) To make connections in one's mind, in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of a situation.


unrapable

en-adj

unrapable (comparative more unrapable, superlative most unrapable)

more unrapable (comparative)
most unrapable (superlative)

Four students from Yarra Valley grammar in Ringwood, in Melbourne’s east, were suspended last week after it came to light they had made the list. It included photos of female students ranking them as “wifeys”, “cuties”, “mid”, “object”, “get out” and “unrapable”.

2024 May 7, Cait Kelly, “Melbourne private school students expelled over ‘cruel’ spreadsheet rating female classmates”, in the Guardian

(offensive, by extension) Having a very unattractive appearance.

Not able to be raped.
Having a very unattractive appearance.


blood libel

en-noun

blood libel (countable and uncountable, plural blood libels)

The Israeli Cabinet, meeting in emergency session, issued a statement tonight calling allegations of Israeli responsibility a “blood libel.”

1982 September 20, David K. Shipler, “Killings a Shock, Israeli Aides Say”, in The New York Times

Charges “Blood Libel.” Mr. Sharon, the architect of Israel's war in Lebanon and now Minister of Industry and Commerce, has charged that he was libeled in 1983 by a Time article suggesting that he condoned, if not directly encouraged, the September 1982 massacre by Christian Phalangists of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut.

1984 November 13, David Margolick, “Trial in Sharon Libel Suit vs. TIME Opens Today”, in The New York Times

[ Ariel Sharon: ] “Time published a blood libel about me. How the hell do you settle a matter like this? A blood libel you fight!”

1987, Uri Dan, Blood libel: the inside story of General Ariel Sharon's history-making suit against Time magazine, page 108

The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.

2023 October 19, Daniel Boffey, “Israel accuses BBC of ‘modern blood libel’ over reporting of hospital strike”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(by extension) Any false or purportedly false accusation of murder of a non-Jew by a Jewish person or organization.

In Washington, the conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan refined the analogy between Jews and their killers, and wrote that those who call for sensitivity to the Jews in this matter are guilty of “a blood libel” against Catholicism.

1989 September 3, Leon Wieseltier, “At Auschwitz, Decency Dies Again”, in The New York Times

What I called blood libel was the charge that Pope Pius XII, and my church, were moral accessories to mass murder.

1989 September 12, Patrick J. Buchanan, “‘We Did Not Go to Auschwitz to Be Beaten’; In Defense of Pius XII”, in The New York Times

[ John Seigenthaler to Oliver Stone re JFK: ] “Is there any regret on your part for what I consider to be a blood libel on Lyndon Johnson for that accusation of murder?”

1997, Shanto Iyengar, Richard Reeves (editors), Do the Media Govern?: Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America, page 44

The fantasies of blood libel that Bosnian Serbs retailed about Bosnian Muslims were the fantasies that Rhinelanders had centuries earlier retailed about the Jews they had murdered.

1998 February 1, Alan Ryan, “Hot Spots (review of The Warrior's Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience by Michael Ignatieff)”, in The New York Times

(by extension) Any false or purportedly false accusation of guilt, especially of guilt in mass murder or homicide.


wave away

en-verb

wave away (third-person singular simple present waves away, present participle waving away, simple past and past participle waved away)

waves away (present singular third-person)
waving away (participle present)
waved away (participle past)
waved away (past)

(idiomatic, by extension) to brush aside or sweep under the rug


work off

work off (third-person singular simple present works off, present participle working off, simple past and past participle worked off)

works off (present singular third-person)
working off (participle present)
worked off (participle past)
worked off (past)

After thirteen years, I've worked off my student debt.

(transitive, by extension) To end (a debt) by doing labor for the person owed money.


goldfish bowl

"Because East Midlands Railway's HQ is here in Derby, we're rather in a goldfish bowl... and now there's the announcement that Derby will be the Great British Railway headquarters, so the goldfish bowl is about to get a whole lot bigger," he says.

2023 November 1, Nick Brodrick talks to Jason Cocker, “A station that "oozes" customer service...”, in RAIL, number 995, page 50

(by extension) Any place that lacks privacy, especially a room with a large window facing a public area.


recalcitrate

recalcitrate (third-person singular simple present recalcitrates, present participle recalcitrating, simple past and past participle recalcitrated)

recalcitrates (present singular third-person)
recalcitrating (participle present)
recalcitrated (participle past)
recalcitrated (past)

The more one was indignant at being the object of such a man's contempt, the more heartily did one disdain his disdain, and recalcitrate his kicks.

1840, Thomas De Quincey, Society of the Lakes

(transitive, by extension) To express repugnance or opposition.


well up

well up (third-person singular simple present wells up, present participle welling up, simple past and past participle welled up)

wells up (present singular third-person)
welling up (participle present)
welled up (participle past)
welled up (past)

Emotion welled up inside me.

“I had to leave my job because I just couldn’t … yeah,” Tina says, welling up.

2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “‘That’s how we’ve got to live’: the black market in England’s shoplifting capital”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(figurative, by extension, chiefly of an emotion) To accumulate within one, to the point of overwhelming one.

kummuta

(of an emotion) to accumulate, to the point of overwhelming


shake down

shake down (third-person singular simple present shakes down, present participle shaking down, simple past shook down, past participle shaken down)

shakes down (present singular third-person)
shaking down (participle present)
shook down (past)
shaken down (participle past)

(slang, transitive, by extension) To extort money from (someone) by means of threats.


death camas

(more generally) A member of any of various similar species, also called star lilies, of tribe Melanthieae in family Melanthiaceae, and formerly grouped into the genus Zigadenus (only Zigadenus glaberrimus remains there).


De Morgan's law

en-noun

De Morgan's law (plural De Morgan's laws)

/dɨˈmɔɹɡɪnzˌlɔ/

Named after the British mathematician and logician Augustus De Morgan (1806–1871), who first formulated the laws in formal propositional logic.

(mathematics, loosely) Any of various laws similar to De Morgan’s laws for set theory and logic; for example: ¬∀𝑥 𝑃(𝑥) ⇔ ∃𝑥 ¬𝑃(𝑥)


bucket list

From bucket + list.
Sense 1 (“list of tasks arising during a meeting”) may allude to a notional bucket in which tasks to be dealt with later are placed. Sense 2 (“list of things to accomplish before one’s death”) refers to kick the bucket (“to die”), bucket in this sense possibly referring to a beam to which a pig is hung by its heels after it has been slaughtered (possibly from Old French buquet (“balance; trebuchet”)). It was coined by the American and British screenwriter Justin Zackham in 1999 when he drew up “Justin’s List of Things to Do before I Kick the Bucket” which he shortened to “Justin’s Bucket List”. The first item on his list was to have a screenplay produced at a major Hollywood studio. After a few years, it occurred to him that the notion of a “bucket list” could be the basis for a film, so he wrote a screenplay about two dying men racing to complete their own bucket lists with the time they had left, which became the film The Bucket List (2007). The term was then popularized by the film.

平生夢想單

a list of things to accomplish before one’s death

lista rzeczy do zrobienia przed śmiercią

a winter bucket list

A list of things to accomplish before one's death.

(by extension) A list of things to accomplish before a certain deadline or in a certain time period.


hard nut to crack

en-noun

hard nut to crack (plural hard nuts to crack)

The coast lad found the veteran Mike McTigue a hard nut to crack and judging from the look on the Californian's face when the final bell sounded, he was mighty happy that the fight was over.

1928 June 8, “Mike McTigue Gives Emanuel a Real Fight”, in Milwaukee Journal, retrieved 2011-09-22, page 2

"But Belarus is a hard nut to crack, and it has used these methods to slip out of these East-West pincers before," says Alexander Klaskovsky.

2011 January 12, Simon Shuster, “Will the E.U. Let Belarus' Despot Off the Hook?”, in Time

(idiomatic, by extension) A situation, person, group, etc. which is difficult to overcome or deal with.


Belgravian

en-adj

Belgravian (comparative more Belgravian, superlative most Belgravian)

more Belgravian (comparative)
most Belgravian (superlative)

Many of the social figures in England, male and female, especially a very Belgravian mother, Lady Clarice, are deftly drawn ; but the coloured desperado, who fails in his attack on his brother, is a little crude.

1909, The Athenæum: A Journal of Literature, Science, The Fine Arts, Music, and The Drama, page 434

[…] and of course she has the most Belgravian connection, my dear she's ushered half the peerage onto the planet, so that what I don't know about the insides of the aristocracy and their habits in the home, […]

1929, Punch, or the London Charivari, volume 176, page 258

(by extension) Of or pertaining to the fashionable or aristocratic life; fashionable, aristocratic.


Belgravian

The haughty Belgravians, the aristocracy of rank, are greatly shocked at the bad manners of the aristocracy of wealth, the Barings and Rothschilds of the city, and earnestly entreat all "respectable" strangers at Prince Albert's fair to bear it ever in mind that London City is not London Town!

1862, “London, and its Forms of Social Life”, in The Boston Review, volume 2, page 102

(by extension) A member of the fashionable or aristocratic society assumed to reside in Belgravia.


clown car

From a comedy routine first invented by the Cole Brothers Circus during the 1950s.

The two-stroke-engine powered, built-with-communist-pride Trabant — a very small, two-door, clown car that resembles a shrunken '55 Chevy — does not particularly excite me.

2000, Automotive Manufacturing & Production: AM & P.

Eleven days later, Madame Chabosson met us at her office parking lot and the five of us squeezed ourselves into her little clown car.

2007, Rebecca S. Ramsey, French By Heart

A security officer sat in his little clown car about thirty yards away.

Huey shut the door and glanced back at his pink compact clown car, still lamenting the loss of his Caddy.

He has painted a racing stripe down the side of his three-wheeled Reliant Robin. Even Grandad overtook the clown car the other day, and he wasn't even on his bike.

2009, Louise Rennison, Are these my basoomas I see before me?

At the grocery store, a clown car as everyone unfolds, gets out, stretches legs and goes inside, stopping a moment in appreciation of air conditioning.

2007, Kansas City Metropolitan Verse, volume 2, page 26

So, I watched as the adults (four) and children (seven) indulged in some sort of vehicular limbo dance as bodies swerved, behinds slid over, and the body parts of several children poked through the windows as if seeking escape. After a few minutes of this, a woman emerged and the tiny clown car went on its way.

2010, Carolyn A. Thériault, Stealing Fatima's Hand, page 106

Four people in a bathroom the size of a broom closet is a clown car.

2013, Tracy Beckerman, Lost in Suburbia: A Momoir

(by extension) A car or small enclosed space with too many people in it.


Brezhnev Doctrine

Named after Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.

named-after

(by extension) Any similar policy of ideologically motivated intervention in the affairs of other states.