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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bucky walter n. The “Boontling” Knox refers to is a sort of argot or private language valley locals developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries using the syntax of English but substituting parts for wholes or referring to things by their uses or their most famous users. For example, a pay telephone rendered in Boontling is a “bucky walter” because a man named Walter Levi owned the first telephone in Anderson Valley and a call on early pay phones cost a nickel, which in those days was the buffalo nickel, nicknamed a “bucky.” Phone booths on the streets of Boont (Boonville) still bear signs identifying each of them as a bucky walter, such as the one outside the Horn of Zeese Cafe (the name is Boontling for cup of coffee), where a bright- lighter (city slicker) can score some bahl gorms (good food) unless he/she wants to drive the extra six miles to Poleeko (Philo). (Jul. 8, 2004) [full citation…]

cheekia n. Czechoslovakia, under the nascent communist regime in 1948, trained Jews and others to fight for Israeli independence in the hope that Israel would become a communist state. As that effort backfired, Czechoslo-vakia tried to help foster socialism in the Arab world and became a chief weapons exporter to Arab countries. The arms trade was greatly reduced after 1989, but Snaidau said some Arabs still refer to guns in slang as “cheekia,” derived from Czechia. (Jul. 8, 2004) [full citation…]

liftback n. What’s wrong with the word “hatchback”? Apparently there’s enough of a negative stigma associated with the designation to make most car manufacturers’ marketing departments dub their “5-door liftbacks” everything but. Suzuki has the Areo Fastback, Mazda the Mazda3 Sportback and Chevrolet the (ahem) “5 series’; the Optra5 and now the Aveo5. Why not keep it simple like the Toyota Echo Hatchback? After all, no matter how you word it a hatchback is still a hatchback. (Jul. 6, 2004) [full citation…]

adultescence n. Marriage once was the gateway to adulthood. It is now the last stop in what has come to be called “adultescence.” (Jul. 6, 2004) [full citation…]

saw n. Brooker manned the .50-caliber machine gun while Sgt. Patrick Hock of Port Orchard operated the M249s, also known as “saws.” (Jul. 6, 2004) [full citation…]

hun n. Yes, there are cross-community projects and we all go to the clubs in the Odyssey. But you have to be careful. If you mix too much you get called a “hun lover.” [Hun is slang for Protestant]. (Jul. 6, 2004) [full citation…]

dockominium n. One response has been the rise of the dockominium, an idea that started in Florida’s year-round boating environment. Marinas sell boat slips like real estate, assuring the owner perpetual ownership, tax write-offs for interest paid if the boat docked in the slip is used as a second home, and, the idea’s promoters say, a chance to cash in on the shortage. (Jul. 6, 2004) [full citation…]

phones n. Mike Rizzo, a DJ at WKTU radio station in New York, said Ivan’s latest is a favorite on his dance music show. “It’s definitely getting great phones,” said Rizzo, using industry slang for requests. “People are digging it.” (Jul. 4, 2004) [full citation…]

foamer n. Kaye Lynn Webb said railroad lovers are usually referred to as foamers because they foam at the mouth because they get so excited about railroads. “We are two of the biggest foamers you will ever see,” she said. “We love railroads. Always have and always will.” (Jul. 4, 2004) [full citation…]

brand promise n. Alexander notes the “corporate-ese” creeping into the campus lexicon, phrases such as change agent, mission driven and a new one he heard only last week: a school’s “brand promise.” (Jul. 4, 2004) [full citation…]

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