LPU
n.— «It’s refreshing to read about a discovery that isn’t just a tiny increment. Today’s scientists are under pressure to publish something new, leading to what some cynically call the LPU, or Least Publishable Unit. You find some new detail and publish it, showing the boss that you’re in a science journal, even though the “discovery” is just a tweak of stuff already known. (Nothing new here. The best description of this is from Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim, about a clueless young lecturer desperate for a job in 1950s England.)» —“The empathy cell” by Tom Spears Ottawa Citizen (Canada) Aug. 24, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Diamond dust, tapioca snow, and sugar icebergs — a 1955 glossary of arctic and subarctic terms describes the environment in ways that sound poetic. And a mom says her son is dating someone who’s non-binary. She supports their relationship, but...
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...