GUBU adj. grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, unprecedented; (hence) disreputable or scandalous. Also n. and attrib. Etymological Note: The acronym was coined in 1983, based on words spoken by Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey in 1982, by journalist Conor Cruise O’Brien, who also spared little effort in popularizing it. Originally referring to scandals originating related to the Haughey government, it has since—much like the American Watergate—become a more general term for scandal or political disrepute. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a linguist helps solve a famous kidnapping case, using the...