gymbot n.— «I suspect we’re learning that the body is a machine—not a sensual, flexible collective of organs and muscle and bone and skin, but a machine we can “work out” with.…Even if the metaphor has some merit...
stick the landing v. phr.— «Ted Koppel put it this way: Today’s made-for-TV conventions are to the political process what synchronized swimming is to water polo: “choreographed within an inch of its life.” And to borrow...
oil spot strategy n. a tactic in which a political or military organization secures an area to be used as a launch site for campaigns to other areas. Also oil spot theory. Editorial Note: Also known as the ink blot strategy. The French version of...
boot room n.— «Bill Shankly began it when he became Liverpool manager in 1959. Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan, who went on to win four European Cups between them, spent long hours during their formative coaching years under Shankly discussing...
pea-likker juice n.— «An extravagant metaphor applied to one who has demonstrated unusual ability or ingenuity. “Buck shore is the pealikker juice when it comes to standing in with the gals.” Confined to the lower South and...
rice bowl n. in the military, a jealously protected program, project, department, or budget; a fiefdom. Etymological Note: Perhaps related to the Chinese concept of the rice bowl as a metaphor for the basic elements required to live, as seen, for...