san man

san man
 n.— «The impetus came from Ms. Nagle, who has long been fascinated by the Sanitation Department.…One of Ms. Nagle’s main concerns is the invisibility of “san men” as they are called, the ways in which people look past them, almost straining to ignore their work. » —“Nothing’s Wasted, Especially Garbage” by Edward Rothstein New York Times Mar. 31, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Primary Colors (episode #1590)

Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish similar shades and tints of colors such as red, yellow...

What’s a Nonce Word?

Lorelei from Wakefield, Virginia, learned the word nonce from the Spelling Bee game in The New York Times. When she looked up the definition of nonce, she saw it described as an adjective that is coined for or used for one occasion. She found this...

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