What does it mean to have an albatross around your neck? A political pundit, referring to a current candidate, mentioned “an alcatraz around his neck.” The proper version, with an albatross, originates from Samuel Taylor...
coolio n.— «What the trucker cap and wallet chain were to hipsters of a moment ago, the Kramden is to what my colleague Mike Albo refers to as the “coolios” of now. Leading with a belly is a male privilege of long standing, of course, a...
hashtag n.— «What does it mean when somebody puts a number sign before a word in an online post? That’s called a hashtag, for the hash mark preceding the word (right, yet another name for the symbol we also call the number sign and the...
call centre couple n.— «The Call Centre Couple, will transform India’s family structure, markets and workplace as we know them today. Why is this Call Centre Couple (CCC) the symbol of the NMC and how will they influence markets, work and...
Martha talks about the hoopoe, that colorful, clownish, extremely smelly bird—with a likely linguistic connection to defrauded hedge fund investors.
Obama n.— «America’s 2008 presidential election loomed large over Ghana’s poll. Supporters of the two main parties talked of their dreams for an “Obama”—here meaning a first-round win—and analysts hoped that the loser would...