A caller who lived in the Bay Area during the 1960s remembers using the word loosecap to describe someone who’s “not playing with a full deck.” He wonders if he and his friends are the only ones to use it, as in, “Don’t...
Blessing Way n.— «On Thursday December 14th at 12:00 pm we will be holding a Blessing Way for our friend and midwife Lauren Hodges whose baby is due December 29th. A Blessing Way is a ceremony honoring change in a woman’s life. We would...
barked adj.— «“Barked,” an English term for a rough, beat-up copy of a book, is the way he’d described his life-worn friend.» —“Family and Friends at the Nines” by Diana Lind Ithaca Times (New...
14-er n.— «As a man in his 70s, Dr. Reed started climbing the “14-ers,” as they are called: the dozens of mountains in Colorado that rise to 14,000 feet or higher. Friends said that on those steep mountains, where the air...
supporter-in-effect n.— «In the lengthening hall of mirrors created by the war in Iraq, friends become enemies. Legislators who voted against the war are called supporters-in-effect when they try to support the troops without supporting...
bro job n.— «John Waters: “A bro job is two straight boys having sex. You know, like, ‘Hey, bro.’ They don’t want to say they’re gay so they call it ‘bro job,’ which I think’s hilarious. It could also be a gay guy blowin’ a straight...