Emily in Colchester, Vermont, asks about hark your racket, a phrase her mother heard from a coworker who called it a Vermont expression meaning “be quiet,” “pipe down,” or “stop complaining.” The exact form is hard to find in print, but Dictionary...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska presents a quiz about “False Plurals,” based on the old riddle: What plural word becomes singular when you put the letter “s” at the end of it? (Hint: Think of a brand of tennis racket, as well as the former name of a musical...
pimp slap n.— «“While Clark County is more than willing to participate in a dialogue with you and your legislative leaders about the future of these programs, we believe strongly that they should be one of the last programs to be cut rather than...
paint job n.— «A Yonex brochure found at its store at the U.S. Open shows Lleyton Hewitt, the company’s high-profile spokesman, playing with the racket manufacturer’s RDX 500 model. But at center court Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Hewitt used...
butter and egg racket n.— «He followed it by a six-city survey quoting records, officials and personal observations of the butter and egg racket. The game is a lottery played by low-income groups.…Bets are made on the butter and egg produce market...
bug n.— «The illegal numbers racket known as “the bug” lives on after the murder this week of one of its one-time kingpins.» —“‘The bug’: Shadow of former self Numbers racket survives, but lottery has cost it players” by Bill Montgomery Atlanta...
