mike n.— «Now he’s back and playing the Mike, football vernacular for the middle linebacker in a 4-3 defense.» —“Walker tries on big shoes” by Jeff Thomas Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts) Aug. 28...
against air other.— «He recounted how he’d watch other teams warm up before games, and how those opposing quarterbacks would have problems completing like 70 percent of their passes “against air,” which means in the football...
Katrina brain n.— «They coined a term here: “Katrina-brain.” It’s a common symptom of post traumatic stress disorder where it is difficult to concentrate, remember or complete tasks. It has become part of the vernacular here...
shrubbing n.— «A Kenyan architect who stalked and then threatened to rape an American volunteer was sentenced to flogging—a common form of punishment for petty offenders in Botswana—after he pleaded guilty to common nuisance charges in a...
silo can n.— «One of them once informed me that the 16oz beer cans that are called “tall boys” in the Portland vernacular were often referred to as “silo cans” ’round the parts where he spent his salad days...
bear hug n.— «It also included several dozen mentions of an unlikely introduction into the vernacular of white-collar crime: “Bear hug.” Fastow used the term to describe the promises Skilling made him that Enron would buy back...