rocket rat
n.— «It is an unforgiving hobby, but it is arguably safer for participants than in the past. Like many of the Black Rock “rocket rats”—largely men of a certain age—Mike Mullane, 61, a retired space shuttle astronaut, recalled his boyhood rocketry experiments with black powder and other dangerous substances.» —“A Cult of Backyard Rocketeers Keeps the Solid Fuel Burning” by Patricia Leigh Brown in Gerlach, Nevada New York Times Oct. 14, 2006. (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...