elephant cage n.— «On base is a maze of wire and steel rods laid out over an area larger than a football field. Local people call it “the elephant cage.” It houses one of the most important intelligence-gathering operations...
le sigh n.— «For the love of all that’s holy, please stop talking and end this movie. Whoa, there’s Jude without his kit! A little post-nooky bed-lounging. Le sigh.» —“Put a Stocking in It” by Ann Hornaday Washington...
murf n.— «The company wants to build a materials reclamation facility (a “murf,” in waste parlance) that would allow it to mechanically sort and process vast amounts of debris. Then Potomac would mine the landfill’s contents...
kiss and ride n.— «Thirty years ago, the region was pretty much contained inside the Capital Beltway, and planners thought commuters would be mostly guys, who would ride the bus to Metro stations or be delivered by spouses to “Kiss...
email bankruptcy n.— «The term “e-mail bankruptcy” may have been coined as early as 1999 by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who studies the relationship between people and technology. Professor Sherry Turkle...
firehouse primary n.— «The nature of the caucus, or as it is sometimes call the “firehouse primary” because voting takes place in an open room rather than in a closed polling booth, requires more personal, diligent grass-roots...