layàk n.— «Abandoning a Muslim tradition of more than a thousand years, Turkey has also adopted a distinction between divine and secular law, even coining a new word for the latter (layàk, clearly borrowed from laicité, the...
money ball n.— «“I didn’t think we’d catch Boston. I knew we’d make a run at them, but the distance was too great. I didn’t think we could win it. Ahh, but they’re just money ball players.” George [Steinbrenner] ought to know. He’s...
brodie n.— «Spying a largish dirt lot off the road, B. turned into it and began whipping brodies in the lot. (For the uninitiated, this is making your car spin in circles fast.) This teenage tradition probably has a little to do with the...
hierarchical dualism n.— «While English teachers regularly deal with disadvantaged groups in the classroom, homosexuality and AIDS were largely ignored. To remedy this situation, she said (in the jargon much loved by educrats): “I...
pipe v.— «He writes in the style of the metro column, a genre that has included some of the best newspaper writing ever, but also its share of “piping,” making stuff up in the tradition of Damon Runyon, who wrote fiction. (One...
bleeding deacon n.— «“If anything is going to destroy A.A.,” says Dr. John Norris, a nonalcoholic physician, friend of Bill Wilson’s and for many years chairman of A.A.‘s board of trustees, “it will be what I call the...