PILOT n.— «The companies—including behemoths like JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer and NBC—have paid a fraction of their normal property tax bill for years through these little-known deals, commonly called PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes)...
opera hot n.— «He’s also peppered the 2006-’07 season with big names such as Anna Netrebko and Juan Diego Flórez (whom geeks refer to as “opera hot,” or extremely attractive in comparison to the archetypical Wagnerian fat lady with...
migra n.— «“People were lured, they were herded by coyotes, hunted by the migras (slang for immigration officers), lured into traps, devoured by labor,” Santa Ana said. “They are beasts of burden, and we have to ferret them...
vomit comet n.— «A San Juan travel agent indelicately calls it the “vomit comet”—an allusion, I imagine, to the great number of babes in arms or inexperienced travelers aboard the planes. It was therefore with some misgiving that I...
double-back v.— «The arbitrator did not rule against the current “double-back” work shift, as the city had sought.…The current system calls for officers to work an eight-hour shift, take off for eight hours and return...
shoot a fair one v. phr.— «There was this time, last year, when my boy Duzer was supposed to shoot a fair one with another kid in school, so my little crew got together to keep it a fair fight.…I saw kids pullling shanks and...