Get the inside tip with America's number one radio show about language, A Way with Words
Catchword for “ghosting”
Catchword: ghosting
Gloss: leaving candy at someone’s door, knocking, and then running away before they answer.
Filed under:
Part of speech: n.
Quotation: In Delafield, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee, a practice called ghosting is all the rage. In the two weeks leading up to Halloween, neighbors sneak up to houses, ring the doorbell and try to drop off candy without being detected.
Article or document title:
“Where the Jack-o’-Lanterns Are Only the Beginning” (URL)
Author:
Louise Kramer
Article, document, publication, web site:
New York Times
Date of publication:
Oct. 21, 2007
This catchword has yet to be researched.
Posted 24 Oct 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend
Comments:
"Ghosting" also conveys stealthy or covert movement, much like "shadowing". The term is more and more frequently being used in genre fiction, especially action and sci-fi.
by Mathew Carruthers 26 Oct 07, 0439 GMT

Leave a comment, which must be approved by the moderator before it will appear. Courtesy matters!

Keep in mind that we're interested in terms that are not well-covered in mainstream dictionaries, or not covered at all. A mass of unexamined Google hits counts for nothing, but an early use of the term you've found in a book or periodical is very useful. A term does not have to be new to be recorded here, it merely needs to be worthy of more attention.
Name (mandatory):

Email (mandatory):

Location (optional):

Your Web Site (optional):

Remember my personal information

Notify me, by email, of follow-up comments.

Recent Catchwords
macaroon technique n. (2/19)
sorry gift n. (2/19)
break the ton v. phr. (2/19)
ghost shift n. (2/17)
stock n. (2/13)
startle factor n. (2/13)
hair crush n. (2/13)
seagen n. (2/13)
rollup n. (11/30)
simming n. (11/8)
nimbleton n. (11/6)
kitchen n. (11/6)
skuke n. (11/6)
parlor n. (11/6)
broccoli journalism n. (10/19)
strap hanging n. (10/8)
parclo n. (10/8)
Dipper n. (10/8)
jeggings n. (10/5)
dittoism n. (10/5)
 More catchwords...
Lexicographer's Rules
New verses to “My Darling Clementine” (4/19)
How do you pronounce “both”? Please take the survey! (3/9)
Garbanzos or chickpeas? (3/4)
Buzzwords of 2009 in the New York Times (12/20)
A note found inside Birds of the Pacific Coast (12/16)
Now accepting nominations for the 2009 “word of the year” and the 2000-9 “word of the decade” (11/15)
How much underworld slang is still used from 80 years ago? (10/27)
Remembering William Safire (9/27)
The elephant in the language (8/12)
Updates will continue to be slow for Double-Tongued (7/19)
 More blog entries...
Find A Word  »
 A   B   C   D   E 
 F   G   H   I   J 
 K   L   M   N   O 
 P   Q   R   S   T 
 U   V   W   X   Y 
 Z   0-9 
Search
Search Site

Google Site Search
Recent searches: home … fashion… baseball… golf… surfing…
New Comments
Lance Hidy commented on flymph (3/23)
sunnyboy0 commented on seagen (2/12)
Trafficman2 commented on parclo (2/12)
paul Teague commented on Taig (2/5)
paul Teague commented on Taig (2/5)
vickie commented on moded (1/5)
midsummer commented on gleek (1/3)
to run away is to Die In Tragedy commented on robotripping (12/4)
TheAnalyst commented on mouth-breather (12/4)
Peter Williams commented on strap hanging (10/30)
hebotick commented on sorry gift (10/18)
urbanclothingguy commented on sorry gift (8/20)
Lolo commented on vacationship (8/17)
teresag commented on pump head (8/3)
kcjones007 commented on wooby (7/15)
Subscribe to the RSS feed. • Subscribe to the mailing list. • Browse the archive. • Add to Technorati Favorites. • © 1999-2012 by Grant Barrett, Double-Tongued Dictionary.