Beware of false friends, those words that don’t translate the way you’d expect. For example, the word “gift” in German means “poison,” and the Spanish word “tuna” means “the fruit of the prickly pear cactus.” These tricky lookalikes are also called...
biobigotry n.— «Biobigotry is different from the impulse to avoid organisms that can hurt or sicken us, like yellow jackets, mosquitoes or poison ivy, or to fend off traditional household pests like mice and roaches. Rather, it is the dislike we...
social dumping n.— «A further risk is that disgruntled incumbent suppliers might retaliate by introducing some form of poison pill such as a special bonus payment—a hit that the new supplier will have to take. They have also been known to carry out...
poison put n.— «In December 1995, following several quarters of weak sales, Kmart Corp. came on the brink of a bankruptcy filing: Their problems stemmed from the possible exercise of $550 million of poison put bonds outstanding, which allowed...
shack-wacky
adj.— «“Poison Pinky,” it was agreed, had gone “shack-wacky.”» —by Edith Kneipple Roberts Tamarack , 1940. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
spray and pray v. phr.— «The old system of spray and pray that the solution purchased would work is definitely headed for the discard.» —“Poison Sprays For Pests Must Pass Inspection” in Sacramento, California Hayward Daily Review (California) Aug...
