What do you call the last serving of food on a plate — the one everyone’s too embarrassed to reach for? That last piece has been variously known as the mannersbit or manners piece, a reference to the fact that it’s considered polite to not empty a...
A few weeks ago, a listener was looking for a term to describe the copy of The Emperor’s New Clothes that he’d read many times as a child. In this picture book, the naughty bits were always cleverly covered up. Thinking he wanted a synonym for “fig...
cover v.— «February 15 marks the start of the racehorse breeding season, where the leading equine Lotharios regularly put their human counterparts to shame. Weatherbys, the family-owned business responsible for registering every...
undercard n.— «Donofrio, who had back surgery Monday for injuries he traces in part to wrestling, said, “If you’re an undercard guy, if you don’t work, you don’t eat. That’s the shame of the business. You talk about the biggest...
gliberal adj.— «For the woman in what I call “gliberal” society today—postmodern, urbane, both bureaucratic and competitive—carrying a child has gone from a glorious condition to an inconvenient and even shameful one, in the...
shanger n.— «For those who’ve never been to a Personal Assistants in Recovery meeting, shanger is that nasty place between shame and anger.» —“Courteney Cox’s Asshole” by Jill Soloway * Jill Soloway * Aug. 31...
