optics
n.— «Optics. This euphemism for “spin”—as in “getting the optics right”—is big in Washington. We hope it doesn’t make it to Los Angeles.» —“How cliche” Los Angeles Times Jan. 1, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that...
Aaron in Los Angeles, California, notes while using public transit in Britain he and other passengers were instructed to alight from the front, meaning “exit the car from the front.” Alight comes from an Old English word alihtan, literally, to...