If someone’s called a pantywaist, they’re being disparaged as weak or timid. The term refers to a baby garment popular in the early 20th century that snapped at the waist. Some people misunderstand the term as pantywaste, but that’s what linguists...
gold miner n.— «Every summer, it seems, more jobs fall to what residents deride as “gold miners”—mainlanders who commute to the island by ferry; Mrs. Luce, for example, said she had long relied on locals but now has a gardener from off-island...
