coffee-housing n.—Gloss: in a competition or game, trying to distract or annoy another player. «Anything you do to distract is called “coffee-housing,” and it’s against the rules. But there’s a lot of gray area. It’s illegal to talk...
bright work n.— «Hill’s job on this piece of aviation history was a tricky procedure called “bright work,” shining the naked aluminum on the underside of Air Force One’s fuselage. “We polished it. Then we put a coat of...
ten-days n.—Gloss: in Trinidad and Tobago, a temporary job. «As for being Attorney General, her tenure there is generally referred to as a “ten-days,” which isn’t far out: she kept the seat warm for Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj for...
mom job n.— «Mommy surgery appeals both as a quick fix for stubborn postpregnancy weight and as a way to control aging itself. Dozens of doctors devote parts of their Web sites to the mom job, including Dr. Lloyd M. Krieger, a plastic...
magic Negro n.— «The enabling mechanism of this conversion is our old friend from “50s liberal movies, the Magic Negro, as descended from Sidney Poitier in “The Defiant Ones.” His job is to prevent the white man from...
surplusing n.— «The employees will have the opportunity to “follow the work,” as AT&T puts it, thus skirting a promise it made in its current contract with the union not to engage in “surplusing,” which is...