ABD
adj.— «I managed to pass my oral qualifying exam, essentially the final hurdle before writing the actual dissertation. In the parlance of academia, this makes me “ABD” (All-But-Dissertation), which also puts me squarely in the position of looking for a full time job as most colleges and universities consider that final step of writing the dissertation as merely an afterthought.» —by Christian Kiefer xiankiefer.blogspot.com May 11, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In The Timbuktu Review, travel writer Wayne Curtis offers excellent advice about how to resist cliches when writing about visiting a new place. This is part of a complete episode.
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