The word versus can be abbreviated any of several ways. In legal contexts in the United States, it’s usually abbreviated as v., as in Supreme Court decisions on Brown v. Board of Education or Roe v. Wade. In less formal situations, such as sports...
A San Antonio, Texas, listener is puzzled about a story in The Guardian about Mavis Staples speculating about her romance with Bob Dylan: “If we’d had some little plum-crushers, how our lives would be. The kids would be singing now, and Bobby and I...
shitasmia n.— «It’s so terrible, it induces an entirely new emotion: a blend of vertigo, disgust, anger and embarrassment which I like to call “shitasmia.” It not only creates this emotion: it defines it. It’s the most shitasmic cultural artefact...
alpha gent n.— «“I like to think we’re producing a magazine for the…“ He pauses, and adopts the self-conscious twinkle of a marketing man with a buzz word to unleash: “Alpha Gent!”» —“Men’s Health – Arrival of the Fittest” by Polly...
bubble capital n.— «Bank PHB was also accused of having resorted to illegalities in the acquisition bid as two-thirds of the 33 per cent it claimed were “rejected” and “warehoused” shares. The rejected shares, also referred to as “bubble capital,”...
Writing in the Guardian, Stuart Jeffries contends that our email boxes are being infested with exclamation marks, known as bangs or bangers (without mash) to some people. Jacob Rubin also wrote on the subject a couple of years ago in Slate. This is...