beerability index
n.— «Determine which candidate you’d rather have a beer with. This practice, called the “beerability index” by professional political consultants, is an excellent way to determine who’d be best for the job. To do this, picture yourself sitting with the candidate in a bar (preferably a dark bar, with sawdust on the floor), and then picture what the candidate is drinking. Is it chardonnay? If so, he just lost your vote.» —“Every dog has his Election Day” by Peter Chianca Wakefield Observer (Massachusetts) Nov. 2, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
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...