hocker
n.— «Sem wonders if skeptical rabbis mean that the press can’t do its job, and that therefore “hockers” are the best sources of information for what the rabbis think…When it comes to the “hock” associated with those rabbis, a journalist who has a similar relationship is just as valuable as the hocker, perhaps even better in some cases I’ve been involved with, because the rabbi knows that the journalist isn’t just looking for the latest lashon hara.» —by Steven I. Weiss Fiddish (New York City) June 3, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re understood and being insulted. “High-involvement” speakers interrupt or talk along with someone else to signal their enthusiasm...
Sigrin writes from Albany, New York, that she misheard our earlier conversation about the expression shaving yak hair meaning “performing a monotonous, tedious task.” At first she thought we said shaving gnat hair, which she figures is...