bark mitzvah
n.— «What? No Bark Mitzvah? There seems to be a major taste problem when it comes to pet products. Who can forget Jim Bakker’s air-conditioned dog house? Yet it’s hard to imagine a bigger turkey than a kitty yarmulke. From the Crazy Cat Lady catalog: “For kosher cats who want to impress their friends at temple. For gentile kittens, there are kitty Santa hats.”» —“Best of bad taste: Our 10 picks for the year’s worst ideas in home decor” by Bonnie Miller Rubin, Paul Gapp, Valli Herman Chicago Tribune Dec. 29, 1991. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...