soft-story adj.— «City officials have decided to speed an analysis of what to do about so-called soft-story buildings because the wood-frame structures are ubiquitous in San Francisco – possibly numbering in the tens of thousands...
red mushroom n.— «A preliminary investigation also found that the train’s braking system was not defective and that the operator did not press the “red mushroom”—Muni parlance for the bright red button on the operator’s...
bump up suit n.— «Referring to the shareholder lawsuits filed earlier in the drama, LaCroix said those cases alleged that the deal wasn’t rich enough. These are called “bump up” suits, he said, and they are common because if...
poverty pimp n.— «They want to know how there can be millions of dollars coming into Fresno to address the homelessness issue and none of it goes to help the homeless. All I can tell them is that there are some very well funded...
gold-beater’s skin n.— «As a conservator, if we saw a tear like this, we’d look to parchment repair, a very similar organic material.…They use something called gold-beater’s skin—the lining of a cow’s stomach—very, very thin...
wash-ashore n.— «The latest demand—made this month in a legal notice by San Francisco homeowners looking to sell their waterfront land for a tidy $10.75 million—has sparked what longtime Chatham resident Ned Webster calls “the big...