Jim Wilson
n.— «A “Jim Wilson,” for example, is airline industry argot for a cadaver being shipped in cargo; undertakers routinely ask for “Jim Wilson” fares. So when a computer executive’s wife inquired about her husband at the airport recently—”Is there a Jim Wilson on this flight?”—the attendant promised to phone the baggage department and locate the casket. “Needless to say, my wife was taken aback,” my friend Mr. Wilson reports.» —“Whose name is it, anyway?” by Alex Beam Boston Globe (Massachusetts) Jan. 24, 1996. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
Karen in Charlotte, North Carolina, adores her son’s cleft chin. Her husband, who also has one, calls it a butt chin. Karen prefers chimple, a combination of chin and dimple. Did she coin it? This is part of a complete episode.
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