earn out v. phr.— «Consider the advance system, whereby a publisher pays an author a nonreturnable up-front fee for a book. If the book doesn’t “earn out,” in the industry parlance, the publisher simply eats the cost...
This week’s language headlines include the publication of new slang dictionary, and an entire book devoted to that tiny piece of punctuation, the period, and a tip-off about audio recordings of famous authors whose voices would otherwise be...
The world of politics tops this week’s language headlines, including an explanation of the Bradley effect, and the ongoing debate over bilingual education. Also, what does the word fubsy mean? Grant has the answer and reports about a new...
floppy n.— «Floppies, pamphlets, monthlies are terms for the monthly comics that are by publishers. It is usually used to separate them from trade books/graphic novels. Sometimes the term is used as a snobby way to put down comics that...
historical rhyme n.— «Take George Bush. By whom I mean George Bush (1796-1859), first cousin of the president’s great-great-great-grandfather. It would be hard to find a more unlikely forebear.…He published his first book...
walker n.— «Twenty years ago, men who went out constantly in high society were known as “walkers,” a quippy term coined by John Fairchild, then the publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, to describe Jerry Zipkin, the steadfast...