spray and pray
v. phr.— «Drug companies are not ready to abandon the “spray and pray” random sampling of compounds to find potential new drugs, but excitement is growing about using computers to design tomorrow’s pharmaceuticals in a more rational way.» —“Advances in Drugs, Courtesy of Computers” by Barnaby J. Feder New York Times Aug. 3, 1988. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...
A young caller from the Hudson Valley of New York wonders about his grandmother’s use of stemwinder to praise a speech she thought was excellent. In the early 1800s, people used pocket watches that had to be wound with a tiny key. Once someone...