foreground
v.— «I have tried to close the gap between us. I walk in, I’m female, I’m an egghead, I’m older, I have a Ph.D.—for some reason, they foreground that. My response is “La-di-fucking-da, I have a Ph.D. Whatever.”» —“Dr. Garbage” by Ben McGrath New Yorker Nov. 13, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Linda in Salisbury, North Carolina, wonders why boxing is called the sweet science, since there’s nothing obviously sweet about a bruising sport. This term took hold among British sportswriters in the early 19th century as promoters tried to frame...
Do you refer to your dog or cat as “somebody”? As in: When you love somebody that much, you don’t mind if they slobber. In other words, is your pet a somebody or a something? Also, for centuries, there was little consistency in the...