When does a word’s past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there’s a particular move that dancers traditionally call a gypsy. But there’s a growing recognition that many people find the term gypsy offensive. A group of...
To throw your hat into the room is to ascertain whether someone’s angry with you, perhaps stemming from the idea of tossing your hat in ahead of to see if someone shoots at it. Ronald Reagan used the expression this way when apologizing to Margaret...
GADA n.— «Special units of real, uniformed, American soldiers are prosecuting a global war of staggering brutality. President George W. Bush gave an order—at one time referred to as a “GADA” (go anywhere, do anything)—similar to, but far more...
family photo n.— «British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher spoke of the high cost of maintaining British manor houses. President Reagan recalled his cavalry service. Italian Premier Bettino Craxi almost missed the “family photo” of summit leaders...
Clinton fence n.— «Just after the morgue-like Border Patrol HQ, the road turns to dirt and the four of us—three Minutemen and I—bounce along in their SUV for a few minutes, due south. Then, abruptly, looms the border, represented here at Campo by...
Reagan fence n.— «Just after the morgue-like Border Patrol HQ, the road turns to dirt and the four of us—three Minutemen and I—bounce along in their SUV for a few minutes, due south. Then, abruptly, looms the border, represented here at Campo by...