creeping crud
n.— «Mel Foster offered “Creeping Crud” but it was rejected by the observer as “too mushy.” Then Perry said, “Well, why don’t we just call you…[an obscenity], and everybody laughed.» —by Howard W. Polsky Cottage Six: The Social System of Delinquent Boys in Residential Treatment , 1962. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
One secret to writing well is … there is no secret! There’s no substitute for simply sitting down day after day to practice the craft and learn from your mistakes. Plus, childhood mixups around word definitions can lead to some funny stories...
Sometimes it’s a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it’s not worth your time? There’s a new formula to help with that decision — and it’s all based on your age. • Have you ever...