from Double-Tongued Dictionary

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Black Wednesday n. Around five million workers—about one in six of the UK’s workforce—will pull a post New Year’s Eve sickie today. Black Wednesday, as it has been dubbed by employers, will also see one in 1,000 people quit their jobs and one in 10 skive to bargain hunt at the January sales. [English United Kingdom Employment Slang] [full cite] (Jan. 8, 2008)

black whistle n. Yang Zuwu, general manager of the Premier League side Beijing Hyundai, said that “faked matches, black whistles, betting on games and other ugly phenomena” were increasing, the Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. “Black whistles” is slang for corrupt referees. [China Sports & Recreation Slang] [full cite] (Oct. 5, 2004)

black-birding n. The settlers found it difficult to recruit workers from among the warring tribes. With this began the pernicious trade in human beings: unsuspecting people were kidnapped or lured onto visiting ships on the other Pacific Islands and brought to work on the plantations. The practice was known as “black-birding” and Fiji’s black-birding era came to an end only in the 1870s. [English] [full cite] (Jul. 9, 2007)

black-brown divide n. Simmering beneath the surface of activism for job creation and workers’ rights is a tension not unique to New Orleans, what labor activists refer to as the “black-brown divide.” In this case, black New Orleanians see reconstruction jobs filled by Latino workers, while they remain disconnected from the workforce. Moreover, labor’s decentralized and segregated history introduces the hurdle of integrating predominantly white Southern locals with black New Orleanians who need access to union jobs most. [English Race] [full cite] (Nov. 22, 2006)

black-ccent n. With his light skin, African father and white mother, and only faint hint of what I call a “black-ccent”—the subtle vocal quality that makes most black Americans identifiable as black over the phone (yes, one can “sound black.” It’s been demonstrated repeatedly by linguistic analysis, and the “black-ccent” overlaps only partially with white Southern)—Mr. Obama would easily be cast by these types as “not too black.” [Black English Race] [full cite] (Sep. 28, 2006)

black-coat n. The “black-coats” as the lawyers are being affectionately called these days, have never shown this kind of unity, nor this temerity, before. [English Pakistan Law] [full cite] (Mar. 19, 2007)

black-robe disease n. If some judges adopt the starchy demeanor and arrogant air that lawyers jokingly refer to as “black-robe disease,” Tom Porteous rarely surrendered his easygoing ways in two decades as a state and federal jurist. [English Law Slang] [full cite] (Jun. 26, 2006)

black-robe disease n. Mike has a better-than-the-rest-of-you attitude.…He’s a pompous elitist with black-robe disease. He’s got a God complex. [English Law Slang] [full cite] (Jul. 12, 2006)

black-rose v. He assumed he was “black-rosed,” a term for a complete severing of relations that Glanville had employed during his coaching days. [English] [full cite] (Sep. 12, 2005)

BlackBerry prayer n. I’m told many users now call the increasingly familiar BlackBerry posture of head down, hands in the lap under the conference table, the “BlackBerry prayer.” [English Technology Slang] [full cite] (Jan. 13, 2005)

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