lid n.— «And they give out a “Lid of the Month” award—part honor, part joke, it is a wooden commode seat, which when lifted reveals a mirror and the engraved call signs of past recipients. “Lid” is a term for a poor radio operator. “Lid-like”...
cow-dust hour n.— «It was the Indian “cow-dust hour”—an hour fit for reverie, all the more for Colonel X, because he was due to return to England within the month.» —“A Second Chance” Times (London, England) Sept. 16, 1938. (source: Double-Tongued...
lattenomics n.— «Last month Paris became the latest city to feature on what the Economist dubs its “lattenomics” scale, which shows whether currencies are at their “correct” level against the dollar by comparing the cost of a Starbucks tall latte...
fag tag n.— «Fag Tag is about getting together all of your friends—gay, lesbian, straight and all in between—and partying outside of the usual limited choices. Each month a different, traditionally straight, venue is chosen to be Fag Tagged and the...
spadia n.— «I’ve learned more about the Chronilog, comics (that fold that covers half of the Sunday comics is called a “spadia”) and the weather page in a little over a month as reader representative than in my entire 14 years at the Chronicle...
ARC n.— «And they kept coming and coming, sometimes in final form, other times in an early version known as arcs, and suddenly there were huge stacks, each bearing a Post-It note I’d created to separate them by month of publication.» —“Burdened by...