plus factor
n.— «he University of Michigan’s policy of giving favored minorities 20 extra points on a 150-point admissions index to achieve undergraduate “diversity” was unconstitutional, but its law school’s use of race as a “‘plus’ factor” to achieve “a “critical mass’ of underrepresented minorities” was constitutional—assuming, as O’Connor thought it realistic and pertinent to do, that in 25 years race-conscious admissions policies will not be “necessary.”» —“The Court’s Electoral Thicket” by George F. Will Washington Post June 30, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Kinbank is a new database that illustrates the global diversity of family terms. English, for example, specifies sibling relationships with just one of two terms: sister or brother. But most other languages have even more specific terms. In...
How do you transform ancient Chinese script for use in the modern age? English uses a keyboard with just 26 letters, but the first Chinese typewriter looked like a small table under a huge disk with more than 4,000 characters. A new book chronicles...