When hiking off-trail, it’s important to keep an eye on where you’ve been as well as where you’re going. Otherwise, you run the risk of what experienced hikers call being “ledged out”, which means you’ve descended...
It’s the business of business jargon. Say you’re in line at the drugstore. Does it bother you if the cashier says, “Next guest”? In department stores and coffeeshops, does the term “guest” suggest real...
Why do we call our biceps guns? The slang lexicographer Jonathon Green suggests that the metaphor first pops up in baseball around the 1920s, when players referred to their throwing arms as guns. Believe it or not, the early baseball pitchers...
Rawlings’ necklace n.— «When Rawlings was in charge, the economy hit rock bottom. The period is called the “Rawlings necklace” after the way starved Ghanaians’ collarbones became visible.» —“The reality of Ghana’s...
cathedral thinking n.— «Rogers described how he has embraced something called “cathedral thinking” and he was calling on the valley to join him. I cringed at first mention of the term, worried that he was going to digress into...
yellow bird n.— «For another, ward leaders have been known to take street money from candidates, promise support and then not deliver. There is a name for this, too. These ward leaders are called “yellow birds,” after the old airline...