TagNewspapers

hamdemic

hamdemic  n.—Gloss: A joking name for the swine flu pandemic. «As a responsible newspaper in serious times—when the world is threatened by climate change, economic collapse and what we are steadfastly refusing to describe as a...

Polly Wanna Cracker?

A man who owns a parrot says that when people see his bird, they invariably ask the question “Polly wanna cracker?” He wonders about the origin of that psittacine phrase, meaning parrot-like. One of the earliest uses of the phrase so far...

dayscrapping

dayscrapping  n.— «I even learned a new word the other day from our friends at Outsell: “dayscrapping,” which refers to the practice some daily newspapers have adopted of publishing or delivering papers only on certain days...

Dance at Two Weddings

This week’s “Slang This!” contestant tries to decipher the slang phrases dance at two weddings and put the big pot in the little pot. She also shares her own favorite slang terms for crumb crusher, rug rat and ankle biter. By the...