beemo n.— «Neither dictionary mentions “beemo,” the mildly pejorative word for a zealous student that haunted my 1970s childhood in central Massachusetts.» —“Pixies, Sheilas, Dirtbags and Cougar Bait: Modern Slang” by Caleb Crain Nation Dec. 10...
sickler n.— «On a matter of semantics, the use of nomenclature derived from the names of diseases, such as “diabetics,” “epileptics” and, in this case, “sicklers,” may be viewed as pejorative and emphasise the disease rather than the humanity of...
short coat n.— «The structure of medical training in the United States is such that after a book-heavy first two years of medical school, the third- and fourth-year medical students are given their half-length white coats (hence the pejorative term...
Colobama n.— «Trotting out the pejorative “Colobama” to describe Colorado’s poor ranking on some quality of life yardstick generally evokes snickers of derision until one realizes that we really are getting the pants beat off of us on a whole host...
flea n.— «A flea, in the parlance of medical students, is an internal medicine resident. And, by way of further explanation—here’s where the pejorative nature comes into play—a flea is “the last thing off a dying dog.”» —“ I dub thee…Sir Flea the...
hooker n.— «Hook: An invaluable offensive tool in the fight game, but only a precious few are able to use it to devastating effect. Those who can and do, are often referred to as “hookers”, and not in the pejorative sense. De La Hoya is a hooker...