spook
n.— «Sandi has a chronic cough after surviving a fire at the track last year. Marco because he’s a “spook,” what the industry calls extremely shy dogs.» —“45-mph couch potatoes” by T.D. Mobley-Martinez Naples News (Florida) Nov. 5, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Brian from Lafayette, Indiana, wonders why chicken is abbreviated CHX in the restaurant industry. Using X as a substitute or shortener has a long history. Medieval scribes sometimes drew a line through the final stroke of an abbreviated word. This...
Julie in Fort Pierce, Florida, recalls that on sweltering days her mother would declare the weather was hotter than Billy Blue Blazes! The word blazes is a euphemism for “hell,” as in hot as blazes. The blue in blue blazes has long been used as an...