son of a bitch
n.— «Son-of-a-bitch. A very popular tool similar to a bobbing tool. When other tools fail this one succeeds.» —“Boiler Shop” in Wisc. 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...
When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focused on listening — and feeling smarter as a result...