mean-mugging
n.— «Oakland is a town where “mean mugging,” the slang expression for looking at someone the wrong way, results in lethal exchanges of gunfire.» —“Decaying park reflects Oakland problems” by John Fall San Francisco Chronicle Aug. 15, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...