zero period n.— «The new schedule has seven 50-minute periods, and extends the school day by 15 minutes. Before, the high school day had six 55-minute periods, but many students took an extra class —- commonly called a “zero period”—before the...
dipstick poll n.— «Afterward, he said, he will ask viewers to call a 900 number in a “crude dipstick” poll to determine whether Americans want political reform or not.» —“And now, here’s Ross—again Perot to kick off new TV spots, and the topic is...
national cake n.— «The underlying principle of governance in Nigeria is best captured in the clause “national cake.” A cake owned by everybody but accessible only to a few. The concept of service and patriotism has given way to plundering and greed...
wheeling n.— «Kean and Lance said the Democratic proposals don’t address the practice of “wheeling” whereby contributors “launder” contributions by making them to a different county political organization, which in turn donate the money to the...
geo-green n.— «The neocon strategy may have been necessary to trigger reform in Iraq and the wider Arab world, but it will not be sufficient unless it is followed up by what I call a “geo-green” strategy. As a geo-green, I believe that combining...
foot fault n.— «But if the jury finds against Forstmann, a cascade of copycat litigation and reform proposals could erupt. “We will all examine every inch of what occurred and find out if there was a foot fault that was justifiable.”» —“Wall Street...