The cleverly named “Buy n Large” corporation in the movie Wall-E has a caller wondering why we say use the phrase “by and large” to mean “generally speaking.” It has its origins on the high seas. This is part of a...
porkulus n.— «This massive porkulus—it’s not a stimulus, it’s a porkulus—this porkulus spending extravaganza has been flatly rejected by the Office of Management and Budget and Wall Street.» —“Our EIB Week in Review: “Support...
Martha talks about the hoopoe, that colorful, clownish, extremely smelly bird—with a likely linguistic connection to defrauded hedge fund investors.
floorplanning n.— «The move is intended to stimulate small business and consumer lending, which has dried up in the wake of the credit crisis. Most dealers finance their inventory—a process called floorplanning—through automakers or banks...
Texas barrier n.— «I pass the ruins of police headquarters, blown up by an Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide truck bomber in May 2007, and enter a corridor lined by eight-foot-high slabs of concrete—”Texas barriers” or “T...
T-wall n.— «I pass the ruins of police headquarters, blown up by an Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide truck bomber in May 2007, and enter a corridor lined by eight-foot-high slabs of concrete—”Texas barriers” or “T-walls,”...