opportunity room n.— «He had brought a cheat sheet to class and gotten caught. Now the students were sitting in judgment of him.…The six students deliberated and decided the offender deserved three days of in-school suspension...
Also speaking of animals, an immigrant from India recounts his confusion the first time he heard the expression “I’m going to go see a man about a horse.” How in did that become a euphemism for “I’m going to go to the...
optics n.— «Optics. This euphemism for “spin”—as in “getting the optics right”—is big in Washington. We hope it doesn’t make it to Los Angeles.» —“How cliche” Los Angeles Times Jan. 1, 2008...
boomer interrupted n.— «The new euphemism for those called to parental assistance is “boomer interrupted.” Just when you began to look forward to your own retirement, your role reverses and you need to take care of those who...
dry meat n.—Gloss: a euphemism for bushmeat. «It takes strategic thinking to find monkey meat in New York. Best to avoid the word “monkey,” for one thing — start with something innocuous-sounding, like “dry meat...
mandy n.— «In some organisations, people refer to their annual vacation as “mandy”—short for “mandatory leave”—an interesting corporate euphemism that implies executives are so engrossed with their work, they need to be literally ordered...