Responding to our conversation about the word chat, meaning “the gravelly residue of mines,” Isabella from Marquette, Michigan, reports that where she lives, in the state’s Upper Peninsula, such runoff is commonly called slag. She uses some made-up...
If you work in tech support, you might use snarky slang for problems caused by computer users themselves. There’s the acronym PEBCAK, for example, which stands for Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard. And: a lush poem about the sea inspired by...
squish n.— «All seven were wearing flame-retardant protective clothing and were standing next to the plant’s No. 1 oxygen furnace when they were “hit with this backlash of extreme heat, slag and molten steel,” United Steelworkers Local 6787...

