pixie
v.— «The final example is the use of the word “pixieing.” It is in extremely common usage among protesters. It can mean any act of cheeky defiance of authority, such as the snatching and wearing of a security guard’s hard hat, but it more properly refers to acts of eco-sabotage. Here the heavy machinery used in, say, the construction of a road, is damaged so as to prevent it being used again and to escalate the costs.…“Pixieing” is a word specific to Britain, reflecting the underlying fairy mythology in British protest culture. In contrast, eco-sabotage is called “monkey-wrenching” in America.» —“The Scouring of the Shire: Fairies, Trolls and Pixies in Eco-Protest Culture” by Andy Letcher Folklore Oct., 2001. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Brownie points, or “credit earned for good behavior or useful effort,” was probably popularized by a fanciful 1951 Los Angeles Times column about how husbands supposedly score points on an invisible domestic scorecard by doing household chores. The...
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, listener has been pondering the saying It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good, and specifically whether she uses it correctly. The expression usually appears as It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good...