Utah claw
n.— «“It was often used in reference to something I came to refer to as the “stiffened frontal bang facade,” a hair tierra set in place with blow drier, hair spray and teasing comb. The heights these can sometimes reach is quite ridiculous.”…”I grew up in an area of West Virginia where such hairstyles are quite popular. We always used to refer to the tall, teased bangs as ‘joke-catchers’ (kept the joke from going over one’s head). A friend from Idaho whom I met in college informed me that her circle of high school friends had dubbed the style of bangs the ‘Utah Claw.’”» —“Re: “Bad Hair Day”” by apowell@liberty.uc.wlu.edu (April N. Powell) Usenet: alt.usage.english Mar. 7, 1994. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life on a space station, with its mix of tedious tasks and jaw-dropping views. And: a musician who rode the rails in his youth shares the slang he...
Steve, a singer-songwriter from Rock Springs, Wyoming, shares some slang he picked up while months riding the rails and busking. Spanging refers to panhandling, from asking for “spare change.” The term bull refers to a type of security...