run v.— «A “bust-down” (pronounced “busdown,” and sometimes abbreviated as “bussy” or “busser”) is a woman of loose morals (although my students would define it by using graphic examples of...
chamcha n.— «Speaking in Urdu, the language of South-Asian Muslims, local Muslims who opposed the posse had taken to calling its members chumcha, or “spoons,” a cultural concept akin to being a lackey. For an American Muslim...
Hurban n. a commercial radio programming format made of music intended to be popular with Black and Spanish-speaking city-dwellers. Editorial Note: The format usually emphasizes reggaeton, dancehall, and English- and Spanish-language hip-hop, but...
Hurban n.— «A decade ago, Boston didn’t have the audience for a single large Spanish-language station much less two. Now whether your style is romantic or the Hispanic urban sound known as Hurban(ph), whether your favorite Iglesias is...
yumptious adj.— «This scholarly, no-frills econiche for neologisms makes yumptious reading from here to Bosnywash.» —“On Language: Living In Synonymy” by William Safire New York Times Magazine Sept. 21, 1980...
duggy adj.— «Five years ago, he heard the word “duggy” (rhymes with buggy), used to describe someone who was very cool and well-dressed. He told the boy using the word he had never heard it. “That’s because you’re not...