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platinum triangle n.— «He knows of at least 20 20,000-plus square-foot homes under construction or about to break ground in what he called the “platinum triangle” of wealthy areas in Los Angeles County: Beverly Hills, Bel-Air...
optics n.— «Optics. This euphemism for “spin”—as in “getting the optics right”—is big in Washington. We hope it doesn’t make it to Los Angeles.» —“How cliche” Los Angeles Times Jan. 1, 2008...
war ganging n.— «There is a practice called “war ganging” where if someone has a wireless laptop, they can come and park outside your home, and if you don’t have a router on the system to protect transmissions, they can...
pootbutt n.— «Then it was competing with Gompers and Mount Vernon for the status of the junior high most likely to beat down a half-assed pootbutt who liked to read.» —“A Writer’s Life” by Jervey Tervalon LA...
scuffled v.— «The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers scuffled through the first half of the season. Manager Tom Lasorda said he is growing weary of hearing about how hard his players are trying.» —“Randolph Says...
A Way with Words is a lively hour-long public radio show about language, on the air since 1998. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett delve into word histories, solve grammar disputes, give and answer quizzes, and take calls from listeners...