Martha talks about the hoopoe, that colorful, clownish, extremely smelly bird—with a likely linguistic connection to defrauded hedge fund investors.
beemo n.— «Neither dictionary mentions “beemo,” the mildly pejorative word for a zealous student that haunted my 1970s childhood in central Massachusetts.» —“Pixies, Sheilas, Dirtbags and Cougar Bait: Modern...
smokepole n.— «Sighting in my muzzleloader the other day at Oakdale Gun Club, I was one of a half-dozen or so shooters blowing charges through “smokepoles,” as muzzleloaders are often called.» —“‘Modern’ muzzleloader...
shooting brake n.— «Mercedes calls the Fascination a modern twist on a body style known in Europe as the “shooting brake,” which, according to tradition, is a luxury coupe with the rear end of a wagon. As such, the Fascination...
grizzle v.— «Get this formula wrong, however, and the finished glass would be unstable. It would continue to absorb moisture from the air and become cloudy in a process called grizzling. Thanks to the wonders of modern atmospherically...
snake run n.— «The “snake run,” a retro design first popular in the 1970s, features bowls with modern radii for gaining speed, pipe coping for hand holds in tricks, and smooth transitions—“trannies” as the skaters call them—throughout...