Hitler weather n.— Note: Discussed in American Speech vol. 21, no. 1 (Feb., 1946), pp. 76-77, and vol. 22, no. 1 (Feb., 1947), pp. 74-75. «Amid the brilliant sunshine which Germans call “Hitler weather”—they used to call it...
beat sweetener n.— «The New Yorker says White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is “a political John McEnroe, known for both his mercurial temperament and his tactical brilliance,” yet is also uncommonly indifferent to both...
A man who owns a parrot says that when people see his bird, they invariably ask the question “Polly wanna cracker?” He wonders about the origin of that psittacine phrase, meaning parrot-like. One of the earliest uses of the phrase so far...
tank n.— «By Thursday, when the president met for the first time with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in “the tank,” the secure Pentagon conference room, the campaign had progressed.» —“After Campaign Push, Obama Cultivates...
insourcing n.— «Under the Aer Lingus deal workers who returned to the airline would have to operate on the basis of full flexibility and mobility within and between departments, buildings and work locations.…For unions, such leave...
door-stepper n.— «Jonathan Ross is avoiding the tabloid door-steppers by staying in a Mayfair hotel, and only using the staff entrance.» —“Blow-dried Golden Retrievers” Popbitch (United Kingdom) Nov. 13, 2008...