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Football Jargon

Football, like most sports, brings its own set of idioms and jargon that ride the line between cleverness and cliche. The adjective multiple describes a player, an offense or defense, or even a whole team that has multiple threats or talents. And a...

FOIA

Grant talks about FOIA (“pronounced FOY-uh”), a bit of journalists’ jargon. This is part of a complete episode.

Etymology of Rubric

The word rubric derives from a Latin word for “red.” Originally, it referred to red letters used as section headings in religious texts and the like. Rubric has since become a term used in modern educational jargon, as in grading rubric...

Coinkydinks and Big Boxes

We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong...

English Down Under

This week, Martha and Grant discuss terms from Australia, including aerial ping-pong, pumpkin squatter, and…kangarooster? They explain the connection between stereotypes and stereos, and why we call the person clearing tables in a restaurant a...

neepery

neepery  n.— Note: Related to the entry for neep-neep in the Jargon File. «Oops. “Neepery” is techno-slang. It refers to the use of excessive jargon. (The jargon itself is “neep” or sometimes referred to as...

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