put a pin in (something) v. phr.— «Studio executives have realized that paying the actor tens of millions of dollars to terrorize a movie set and ultimately deliver a box office stinker was perhaps not the most cost efficient strategy...
cotton curtain n.— «This very afternoon he had left the office of his agent in New York, tonight would stop off at his house in Bucks County, and tomorrow would head south, under the “cotton curtain,” as he expressed it...
cut-off n.— «The early cassettes were delivered to the office of al-Jazeera in an Islamabad suburb. America was watching, but to no avail. “They did it at night using cut-offs,” says one official, using the term for someone...
summer melt n.— «Because of overcrowding problems in previous years, the college reduced the number of offers of admission from 3,486 in 2003 to 3,366 this year. However, this year the college’s admissions office experienced an unexpected...
chaosopher n.— «The signature on David Griggs’ outgoing e-mails identify him as a chaosopher, a term he said has raised questions and eyebrows. “A chaosopher is someone who studies chaos,” Griggs said recently from his office...
rubber room n.— «Reluctant to mess with the Speaker’s monument without strong backup, the G.S.A. boss, Gerald Carmen, asked for a report from his Office of Oversight, which is headed by William Clinkscales, who gained fame during the...