soft-story adj.— «City officials have decided to speed an analysis of what to do about so-called soft-story buildings because the wood-frame structures are ubiquitous in San Francisco – possibly numbering in the tens of thousands...
start and park n.— «Lewandoski did exactly what the team he was driving for, Fitz Motorsports, asked him to do: Start the race and bring the car in after a few laps. In NASCAR parlance it’s called a start and park. Get a car in the field...
walk on a bank n.— «More likely than the kind of exodus of depositors that quickly sank IndyMac is what some bankers call a slow-motion “walk on the bank” which could cripple financial institutions already weakened by credit...
diving catch n.— «The fourth thing is the risky behavior patterns that are rewarded. We found, particularly in the tech firms, that the way to get promoted is to do a diving catch: Some system is crashing in Bulgaria, so you get on the...
mermaid tear n.— Note: Nurdles are defined here. «More alarmingly, research has shown that small plastic pieces, also termed nurdles or “mermaid tears”, act like sponges, absorbing pollutants and other harmful substances. When consumed by...
biomagnify v.— «When consumed by living organisms and passed along the food chain, the pollutants become “biomagnified” and can reach dangerously high concentrations, a particular risk if / when their host fishes find their way onto our...