café-au-lait spot n.— «McCune-Albright syndrome can cause patches of darker skin coloring. These areas are called café-au-lait spots because, in children with light complexions, these spots are the color of coffee with milk. In...
Death of the Typewriter Ding! In this week’s episode, Mark Twain would be pleased. Reports that it’s the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated. Well, slightly anyway: it’s not the horseless carriage...
gold-beater’s skin n.— «As a conservator, if we saw a tear like this, we’d look to parchment repair, a very similar organic material.…They use something called gold-beater’s skin—the lining of a cow’s stomach—very, very thin...
have skin in the game v. phr.— «The value of homeownership, then, has increasingly shifted to the home’s likelihood to rise in value, like any other investment. And when investments go bad, people tend to walk away. “When people don’t...
meth bugs n.pl.— Note: Similar to cocaine bugs. «“The skin starts to dry out and becomes itchy and the user starts to hallucinate and thinks he has something crawling under his skin—what is commonly called meth bugs. Because he thinks...
scud n.—Gloss: the small and very hot “bird’s eye” chili pepper, also known as the “mouse-dropping” chili. Usually said to be nicknamed after the Scud missile. «I did balk a little at the call for 75 birdseye...