facetimer
n.—Gloss: Cornell University slang for a person who only attends and event or appears in public in order to be seen by others. «So, to sum it all up, playing the Terriers does pack more fans into Conte Forum—the game was announced as a sellout—but many of the newcomers are what Cornell fans refer to as “facetimers,” so it doesn’t make all that much of an impact on the overall atmosphere.» —“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Elliot Olshansky CSTV Dec. 1, 2007. (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...