The grumpy agent who writes the blog SlushPile Hell received a submission stating, “I have attached a copy of a letter I recently sent to Oprah about my book. She ends her show in September 2011, which leaves little time to select an agent...
It’s always fun to catch moviemakers’ blunders. Say you’re watching an epic about ancient Rome and spot a toga-clad extra who forgot to remove his wristwatch. That’s an anachronism. But what do you call something that’s...
A man in Huntington Beach, California, ponders his teenager’s frequent use of the words fail and epic fail. Grant explains what this has to do with semantic bleaching, and discusses some funny fails on failblog.org. This is part of a complete...
wrench time n.— «But the mechanics do not simply need better instruction, Mr. Joyce said. The typical mechanic, he estimates, puts in just four and a half hours of “wrench time” during an eight-hour shift. Much time is wasted traveling...
take a haircut v. phr.— «When securities are used, the brokerage firm take a “haircut” on their value. This means that, for capital purposes, they are valued at somewhat less than their market prices. How much less is up to...
bash to fit v. phr.— «Decompression disasters are one possible outcome from faulty fuselage parts such as bear straps and chords made by Ducommun, some of which allegedly were wrested into position during assembly because of their flaws...