French hours n.— «[Billy Wilder] also likes the French hours—noon to 7:30 P.M. “In Hollywood, with the five-day week and early hours, one can make fifty silly errors before one begins to work.”» —“Production Views Along...
fairy ring n.— «Everyone who is accustomed to the country knows a “fairy ring” when he sees it. Each ring is only a belt of grass of a much darker green than that surrounding it.…If the grass of these “fairy...
take a drink n.— «“If you take a drink”—river parlance for going overboard—”float feet first downriver and we’ll get you out.” » —“Into the Heart of Idaho by River, Seeking Solitude and Thrills” by Wendy...
train n.— «The police call it the Neighborhood Enforcement Stabilization Task Force, a unit charged with aggressively enforcing quality-of-life crimes, but people in the neighborhood ominously refer to it as “the train...
floss v.— «The scene metamorphosed into “kind of a floss-fest,” notes R. J. de Vera, a tuner pioneer who oversees his own performance-oriented brands RO— JA and Motegi Racing. “Flossing” is a hip-hop term that...
submarine patent n.— «Occasionally, patents take a decade or two to be granted because they are held up in appeals and amendments in the Patent Office. When this happens under the existing system, an inventor can obtain a 17-year monopoly...