dementia americana
n.— «When Thaw’s attorney made the case that his client had been acting out of a condition he termed dementia Americana—a legitimate rage triggered by the desecration of a man’s home—a powerful nexus of concerns with national identity, patriarchy, class, and the public sphere emerged. Meanwhile (and most interestingly), Evelyn Nesbit Thaw became “the first person to capitalize on a scandal to become a film star.”» —“Headline Hollywood” Film Quarterly Summer, 2002. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Trivia time! Where in the United States can you visit Soda City? If you answered Columbia, South Carolina, you’re right! This nickname apparently derives from an old practice of abbreviating Columbia as Cola. The locals then referred to the town as...
If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you’re actually fluent? And a couple’s dispute over the word regret: Say you wish you’d been able...