Harvard death
n.— «To die “a Harvard death” (meaning the physicians have managed to normalize the laboratory test values but failed to help the patient).» —“Fracturing the Language of Biomedicine: The Speech Play of U. S. Physicians” by Anne Burson-Tolpin Medical Anthropology Quarterly Sept., 1989. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Sarah from St. Augustine, Florida, asks if there’s a word for the accent we inherit from our parents. One useful term is idiolect, the unique blend of language each person speaks, and the handing down of speech habits from elders is called...
A kerfuffle is a fuss, bother, or disturbance. It’s from Scots curfuffle, likely from Scottish Gaelic car, meaning “turn,” “bend,” or “twist,” plus fuffle, a Scots word that means “to disorder” or “to ruffle.” Early forms like carfuffle and...