Cain from Dublin, Ireland, wonders why sportscasters in his country often say a team’s at sixes and sevens when they’re looking disorganized or nonplussed. The leading theory suggests that sixes and sevens, primarily heard in the United...
Hudson River alligator n.— «The quaint wooden pilings you see at the edge of Manhattan, the ones that trace the outlines of long-gone piers, are a hazard in the making. When a storm knocks one of them loose, the resultant floater—a...
stunter n.— Note: This term is familiar to anyone who remembers the Icy Hot Stuntaz Internet meme. «In squad cars and on powerful BMW motorcycles of their own, these officers go after what they regard as a growing problem on the nation’s...
whoop-de-do n.— «They will race about 100 yards before funneling into a tight turn, followed by five jumps, a water hazard, mud pit, several sand traps and dozens of “whoop-de-do” cross-grain ruts.» —“45,000 To Watch...
belt air n.— «Stricken from Yonts’ bill was a provision that would have barred the use of conveyor-belt tunnels for coal-mine ventilation. “Belt air,” as it is known in the industry, may contain coal dust and toxic chemicals...
brism n.— «The club history, written on the occasion of London Hunt’s centennial in 1985, recounts…“After the mid-1920s, maneuvering around the new university buildings posed an additional hazard. It was easy to go out of bounds, to...