goldberg
n.— «Goldberg. Cheap, complicated pieces of mechanism.» —“Material for Trade, Slang and Jargon Dictionary: Sheet Metal Workers” in U.S. Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pa. Lexicon of Trade Jargon , 1938-39. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A caller wonders if she’s being hypersensitive about the way her boss addresses her in emails. Can the use of an employee’s first name ever reflect a power differential? And: a community choir director wants a term for “the act of...
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...