A Way with Words

Facebook degree

Posted by Grant Barrett on June 21, 2009 · Add Comment

Facebook degree n.— «The University of Salford is set to offer a MA/PgDip in Social Media—unofficially referred to as the “Facebook Degree.”» —“Salford Uni launches Facebook degree” by Gareth Halfacree bit-tech June 12, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Grand Bargain

Posted by Grant Barrett on January 17, 2009 · Add Comment

Grand Bargain n.— «The harder part will be trying to follow that up by creating what is coming to be known in Obama circles as a Grand Bargain: getting everyone to agree to clean up the nation’s budget mess in a really big way, one that doesn’t just fix the problems being created now, but also [...]

play bow

Posted by Grant Barrett on February 17, 2008 · Add Comment

play bow n.— «Social play has its own vocabulary. Dogs have a particular body posture called the “play bow”—forelegs extended, rump in the air—that they use as both invitation and punctuation. A dog will perform a play bow at the beginning of a bout, and he will crouch back into it if he accidentally nips too [...]

blessing way

Posted by Grant Barrett on September 17, 2007 · Add Comment

blessing way n.— «The informant of the xÃ³já»£-djÃ, or blessing way…had little to say of additional peoples beyond the curt remark that the four clans would meet some relatives iá»£n the Navaho country.…Their sacred names in the xÃ³já»£-djÃ or blessing way.» —“Social Life of the Navajo Indians” by O.F.M. Father Berard American Anthropologist Oct.-Dec., 1932. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

whimperative

Posted by Grant Barrett on September 7, 2007 · Add Comment

whimperative n.— «We shall not discuss here the complicated questions of implicit performatives, e.g., of so-called whimperatives, debated in the linguistic literature.» —“Directives, Norms, and Performatives” by K. Opalek Normative Structures of the Social World Jan., 1988. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

creeping crud

Posted by Grant Barrett on March 22, 2007 · Add Comment

creeping crud n.— «Mel Foster offered “Creeping Crud” but it was rejected by the observer as “too mushy.” Then Perry said, “Well, why don’t we just call you…[an obscenity], and everybody laughed.» —by Howard W. Polsky Cottage Six: The Social System of Delinquent Boys in Residential Treatment , 1962. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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