conehead
n.— «Conehead. This has nothing to do with the space-alien routine made famous on Saturday Night Live. In Los Alamos, it means scientist, stemming from the unflattering “pointy-headed”—meaning too intellectual. Somehow, the folks at the lab have turned it into a badge of honor. They might say of someone whose intellect is in doubt, “His cone isn’t all that sharp.”» —“The New Mexican Lexicon” by Tom Sharpe Albuquerque Journal (N.M.) Jan. 10, 1997. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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