Double-Tongued Dictionary Recent Citations

Citation Queue These are recently added citations for catchwords that have not yet been researched or incorporated into a full dictionary entry. There is also a date-sorted archive which includes all citations, whether used in a full entry or not, as well as the full entries themselves.

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infodemic n. Is it an abundance of caution, or an abundance of panic and fear? An epidemic or an “infodemic?” What constitutes responsible action at a time when fear prevails? (May. 14, 2009) [full citation…]

pill pull n. The drawing for post positions will be held on Wednesday, May 13th, at 5 PM Eastern Standard Time and the process for selecting the starting spots for the Preakness is done using a method called a “pill pull.” Similar to the process in which post positions are chosen for the Kentucky Derby, a blind draw of small, numbered ping pong-like balls will be used to figure out which horses are in what gates at post time of the 2009 Preakness Stakes. The post positions draw programming is scheduled to last roughly 30 minutes. (May. 14, 2009) [full citation…]

meeskite adj. Little, purebred dogs are certainly among the easier animals to find homes for, but Rosie was a bit “mature” when she entered my shelter as a homeless stray. A somewhat crusty old lady, this little Shitzu was in fact a mess when I first brought Marilyn to meet her. The Yiddish word “meeskite” meaning “someone so homely she’s actually cute,” the proverbial face only a mother could love, that was Rosie. (May. 14, 2009) [full citation…]

alloparent n. Where did the term “alloparent” to refer to the mother’s helpers come from? I was one of the first people back in the ’70s to write about the importance of conspecifics—members of the same species other than the mothers—rearing offspring, but at the time I was using the very technical primatological term “aunties and uncles.” And I was writing a paper in a seminar for Edward O. Wilson, and he said, “You know, Sarah, this won’t do.” And so it was actually Wilson who coined the term “alloparent,” because he felt we needed something a little more dignified than calling them “monkey aunts and uncles.” (May. 14, 2009) [full citation…]

stump n. In place of two Silverstein behemoths, each designed by a British lord and soaring 79 stories, the PA would erect a pair of short, squat buildings no taller than four or five floors—coined “stumps”—that could be used for retail shops, according to the proposal. (May. 14, 2009) [full citation…]

cutting n. To prepare for their performance in the jump event at the all-star tournament, Thees said the women are trying to improve their jump distances by practicing more challenging jump maneuvers. When the boat pulls a skier toward the jump ramp at an angle, a technique called “cutting,” Thees said the skiers gain more momentum, which allows them to nearly double their jump distance. (May. 14, 2009) [full citation…]

wall-cross v. Wells Fargo wanted to be among one of the first banks to get to the market before fund managers and investors became overwhelmed by the supply of stock. Being first also carried the risk that the offering could be too big, or badly priced, which would drain investor appetite and trigger a lot of trouble for future offerings. Speed was the key. Thursday, J.P. Morgan and Wachovia started calling select investors–many of them previous investors in Wells Fargo—to in Wall Street parlance—”wall-cross” them, following the same playbook Wells and J.P. Morgan used last fall to raise equity. The deal was opened publicly to investors just after 4 p.m. (May. 12, 2009) [full citation…]

synch license n. Barring an exception under copyright law, the use of a sound recording and/or composition in a film requires a license from the owner (or owners) of the copyrights. Thus, for example, for the film Donnie Darko to feature a slow, stylized version of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World,” a license to the underlying composition—referred to as a “synch license”—would be required. (May. 12, 2009) [full citation…]

leaner n. This is apparently part of a trend called viral marketing where companies are using real people to create fake grass roots buzz about something, because it turns out that studies suggest that people trust word of mouth information, even from people they don’t know, more than they do official sources and vastly more so than commercial advertising. So you may find “friendly” people you meet in a bar or a coffee shop (they are called “leaners” in the trade) talking about how great some product is, and you do not realize that they have been paid to go around doing this. (May. 12, 2009) [full citation…]

crimalien n. Not all Mexicans are crimaliens—however all ILLEGAL immigrants are crimaliens—if the truth hurts—change the truth—close the borders—clean up the mess we have allowed ourselves to get into. (May. 12, 2009) [full citation…]

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