stunt up
v.— «I found 90 per cent had never pulled a gun in their careers. And of those who did, only 1 per cent ever fired, because you go through a three-stage process of verbal warning, taking the gun out of the holster, clicking it, then, and only then, aiming. On NYPD Blue they blast in every episode. But we’re reality—we don’t do it to stunt up ratings.» —“Mean Streets” by Jim Bawden Toronto Star (Can.) July 22, 1995. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
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...