Wednesday, January 01, 2003
“Mills’ narrator—unnamed, as in Three to See the King, his novel from last December—combines the driving skills of a bus operator with the time-wasting prowess of a professional writer. He works a cushy job as a delivery man for the Scheme, a shadowy concern that ferries mysterious cargo around a large, unnamed city in ubiquitous vehicles called UniVans. About halfway in—sooner, for book flap readers—we find out what’s in all those crates: UniVan parts. ëSo we’re driving around in UniVans, full of bits of UniVan?’ a new trainee asks. ëCorrect,’ the narrator answers. ëIt’s self-perpetuating. We move the parts from one depot to the next, and it keeps us all in work.‘“ (Source Link)
This is the personal weblog of Grant Barrett, editor of the Double-Tongued Dictionary, a collection of words from the fringes of English. More about this site...
Recent Entries
- A hearty endorsement of shout quotes: scare quotes used for emphasis
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- Jinx and padiddle: games we play
- Saying it wrong on purpose
- Nicknames from the Underground: Busharraf, Chillary, and Killadelphia
- New slang unpacked
- UPDATED: Crosswords in Black and White
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- Recent catchwords: read-alike, violin hickey, throw a Porsche at someone, Q-tip cruise, 1-800 car
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Recent Catchwords
- mill and fill n. (7/3)
- snake run n. (7/2)
- hurricane amnesia n. (7/2)
- dollar-a-year man n. (7/2)
- tranny n. (7/1)
- secular adj. (6/30)
- commuter trip n. (6/30)
- wendy v. (6/30)
- double-dekker n. (6/30)
- gas-sipper n. (6/29)
- nuke the fridge v. phr. (6/29)
- mannyhose n. (6/29)
- run one’s pockets v. phr. (6/29)
- gay-lister n. (6/29)
- cross-shopping n. (6/29)
- weird stacking n. (6/29)
- block busting n. (6/27)
- beek n. (6/27)
- sweatbox n. (6/26)
- bump-out n. (6/26)
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