God spot n.— «That conflicts not only with the limbic-system theory but also with earlier reports of a so-called God Spot that derived partly from work conducted on epileptics. These reports suggested that religiosity originates...
clownsuit engine n.— «A clownsuit engine…does an advanced Google search within specific parameters. In this case, it searches for files on one click hosts that contain the keywords the clown and the little boy type into the search...
Martha and Grant discuss advertising slogans and product names supposedly botched in translation. They also recommend an eclectic mix of books for the word-lover on your holiday list, from military slang to Yiddish. Plus a slang quiz on the words...
clapter n.— «You can prompt applause with a sign. My friend, SNL writer Seth Meyers, coined the term clapter, which is when you do a political joke and people go, “Woo-hoo.” It means they sort of approve but didn’t really like...
ankling n.— «Jon Goldman, who has headed the Irvine-based company since The Collective and Backbone Entertainment merged almost three years ago, is “ankling,” as we say in Variety parlance. That means he’s not quitting in the...
ground-owner n.— «During the war in Iraq, young Army and Marine captains have become American viceroys, officers with large sectors to run and near-autonomy to do it. In military parlance, they are the “ground-owners.” In practice, they...