street money n.— «Street money is the name for cash given to party committeemen and women who hand out literature and drum up the vote on primary and election days. It comes from the candidates and is dispensed to the party’s 69 ward...
drop a pickle v. phr.— «He got his nickname, “Split,” when he went to a party shortly after his wife gave birth to their first child. Dropping a bomb and having a child are both referred to as “dropping a pickle”...
free vote n.— «Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, leader of the Roman Church in England and Wales, went public to insist that Labour MP’s should be granted what is known as a “free vote,” the process by which party members are allowed to...
Death of the Typewriter Ding! In this week’s episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it’s the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it’s not the horseless carriage...
cascaron n.— Note: Cascarón is Spanish for “eggshell.” «In late April, tiny pastel bits of a giant San Antonio party show up everywhere: trickling from your hair, embedded in the carpet under your desk, stuck to your furniture...
libel chill n.— «The Liberal party announced later there would be no apology. “This is what is known as ‘libel chill”—using the threat of a libel suit to remove an issue from where it should be rightfully debated: before the...