Skip, a sailing enthusiast from Gainesville, Florida, has been pondering radio protocols, such as the distress signal mayday!, and sécurité, which announces any of various warnings. There’s also pan-pan, repeated three times, a call that indicates...
Perhaps you have a panic monkey in your life. That’s someone who starts flailing their hands anytime they’re nervous. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Panic Monkey” I’m surprised I haven’t come across this before, but I learned the...
To throw a wobbly means lose self-control in a panic or temper tantrum, or to cause consternation by acting in a surprising way. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Throw a Wobbly” Here’s an expression I ran across recently, to throw...
infodemic n.— «Is it an abundance of caution, or an abundance of panic and fear? An epidemic or an “infodemic?” What constitutes responsible action at a time when fear prevails?» —“The Travel Detective Responds to Joe Biden and the Swine Flu...
financial incest n.—Gloss: Telling one’s children about family financial affairs in such a way or to such a degree that they learn too much and become overly concerned. «While experts say the current financial crisis is a good way to discuss...
flap n.— Note: Perhaps related to the noun meaning of flap, “a state of agitation; a panic.” «His face lit up when he talked about a “flap,” a term used to describe a large number of UFO reports, one March sometime in the late 1990s.» —“His eye is...
