squish n.— «Giuliani is also a pragmatist, which is not to be confused with what rock-ribbed conservative ideologues refer to as a squish. A squish is a moderate—someone who caves to liberal pressure for no reason other than lack of...
spotter n.— «Cal Fire blamed the delay on a shortage of military helicopter managers, better known as spotters—trained wild-land firefighters who help military pilots position water drops and communicate with firefighters in the air and...
sugar out v. phr.— «But I know that union representatives balk at such ignoble motivations and like to point instead to the value and importance of public schools in American life. When I was a school choice advocate in Vermont, these...
movida n.— «“Santa Fe, when I was younger, was known by its movidas, for lack of a better word,” Councilor Carmichael Dominguez said, using a local term that can refer to sly schemes. “How would we deal with people who said they got...
biogenetic child adj.— «With egg donation, science has succeeded in, if not extending women’s fertility, at least making an end run around it, allowing older women who, for a variety of reasons (lack of money, lack of partner, lack of...
superdomed adj.— «There’s a new phrase in the safety industry—“Superdomed.” That’s what happened to the people in New Orleans. There were people who were damn hungry and damn thirsty stuck in the Superdome. But they weren’t dying from...