Panamax n.—Gloss: a cargo ship built to be small enough to go through the Panama Canal. «The ships are bound for Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. (Very little Australian coal goes to China.) The bigger ones are called “Capies” to distinguish them...
vomit draft n.— «And you can join them—even if your grammar grates and your spelling stinks. Your only goal is to finish what’s fondly called the “vomit draft.” Be assured that much of your novel will reek. But just as a slimy oyster shelters a...
tap-tap n.— «Strange little buses called “tap-taps,” constructed on flatbed trucks and decorated over every inch with paintings of flowers, animals, Bible stories and proverbs, ply along the Avenue des Salines parallel with the harbor at intervals...
sailor mongering n.— «Sailor mongering was rife in the 19th century when brothels sent prostitutes laden with booze onto ships as they made their way to harbor. The idea was to get the sailors so drunk they could be whisked to shore and held in...