Skip, a sailing enthusiast from Gainesville, Florida, has been pondering radio protocols, such as the distress signal mayday!, and sécurité, which announces any of various warnings. There’s also pan-pan, repeated three times, a call that...
job blocker n.— «It’s no wonder that many tattooists themselves refer to them as “job blockers.” How can you take seriously anyone who has a fire-breathing winged serpent / the names of their three kids in sanskrit / the logo of a...
heli-mulching n.— «Rice straw dropped from a heavy-lift helicopter rained down like snow Monday on fire-blackened forest land north of Oroville in an effort to control erosion. The process, known as “heli-mulching,” is set to continue...
no duff other.— «L/Cpl Steven Jones, 25—an Army passenger on the plane—yelled, “No duff, no duff, we are on fire, we are on fire,” before communication was lost. “No duff” is a military term used to indicate a real emergency instead of a...
surface snorting n.— «Scores of Sydneysiders woke to the sight of thick white smoke coming from a Collins-class submarine off Sydney’s northern beaches this morning, but their fears of a fire were unfounded—it was just the ageing sub’s...
finger trouble n.— «It was an assembly error in the car’s in-line six that led to a blow-up and fire as one of the conrods left the scene of the crime through the side of the engine block. Race teams put such failures down to...