Home » Dictionary » tent pole

tent pole

tent pole
 n.— «A studio like Fox usually works on dozens of DVD’s at a time—from minor television shows to $100 million-plus “tent poles” meant to draw everyone in and that entail a marketing blitz mapped out long beforehand.» —“Box Office in a Box” by Jon Gertner New York Times Nov. 14, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 comment
  • What a cool resource this is! My biography of Truk Lagoon’s Kimiuo Aisek is coming out soon, and Titanic co-producer Al Giddings is writing the foreword (correct, not forward!). He buzzed me to send him my thoughts on ‘tent-pole events’ to be included in what he writes. I never worked for Fox Studios. I’m just a scuba diver! I taught college writing for 18 years, love words, but had never heard this term. Had to Google rather than embarrass myself in the eyes of “Super Shooter” Al Giddings — the name Kimiuo Aisek gave him after Al named Kimiuo “Big Shooter!”

Further reading

At First Blush (episode #1529)

Book recommendations and the art of apology. Martha and Grant share some good reads, including an opinionated romp through English grammar, a Spanish-language adventure novel, an account of 19th-century dictionary wars, and a gorgeously illustrated...

Gift Horse (episode #1528)

The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop. A medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you’re close to another dimension of space and time. There’s a term for such locales: thin places. And: did you ever go...