enta n.— «They’re not prisoners, they’re “detainees.” It sounds better, as if they’re merely inconvenienced rather than shoehorned into cinderblock cells, thumbing their military-issued Korans and waiting to be interrogated...
parachute stop n.— «Alexander did what the industry calls a “parachute” stop: After much of the filming has been done in advance, the correspondent flies in to add human touches and write the piece, to which video will be cut...
MBE generation n.— «English cricket isn’t always in tune with the times, but it seems to have caught the wave of the “me-me” generation pretty sweetly. It even has its own name for it—the MBE generation, an exclusive club whose members...
chewing gum fit n.— «One type of seizure that affects the head, and is unique to distemper, is sometimes referred to as a “chewing gum fit” because the dog appears to be chewing gum.» —“Canine Distemper” by...
turtle back n.— «I have seen books labeled field guides that are too big or heavy to be comfortably carried on a hike. The guideline is that the book be less than 5 inches wide, 8 inches high and about 1 inch thick so it will fit in a...
3-1-1 n.— «The key point is that, in carry-on bags, each traveler is allowed no containers of liquids and gels larger than 3 ounces; everything must fit in a single one-quart bag; and there can be only one such bag per person. (The TSA...