permie
n.— «Permaculturists—they call themselves “permies”—had converged on Merritt from as far away as Texas and Missouri.…Permaculture is clearly more than a style of gardening for these folks; it’s a way of life. There are rival schools and exponents, but it’s all about creating sustainable, food-providing human landscapes that mimic natural ecosystems. It borrows from systems like biodynamic, square-foot and French-intensive gardening.…Cob, a mix of adobe and straw, is a favorite permie building material.» —“Permaculturists are planting people—and growing ideas” by Ron Sullivan, Joe Eaton San Francisco Chronicle July 18, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Aubrey in Waco, Texas, says her mother used to warn the kids against contracting honkus of the bonkus, a fanciful name for a contagious disease. This colloquial term probably comes from the words bonk and konk, meaning “to hit” or...
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...