Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)
Apparently the term "UFO" is out; in its place, "UAP," for "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," is gaining popularity. Jon Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune says: The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (the term...
grog
Sarah told me she was groggy this afternoon, and I asked "From too much grog?" and the ensuing discussion led me to realize I didn't know where the word "grog"...
double-gaited
Apparently "double-gaited" means "bisexual," according to Chapman's American Slang. I encountered it in a 1981 Elmore Leonard novel: "[...] Yeah, I think he's fucking her. I think he'd be out...
filibuster, freebooter, buccaneer, etc
This is the best etymology I've seen in months. Wikipedia on "filibuster": The term comes from the early 17th century, where buccaneers were known in England as filibusters. This term...
junglist
A "junglist" is someone who listens to jungle, of course. Turns out that "jungle" is "a style of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, techno, rare...
hustings
A recent Doonesbury strip used the phrase "hit the hustings." Turns out that (says Wikipedia) a "husting" is "the platform from which a candidate speaks before a parliamentary or other...
flaneur
I'm cheating a little, 'cause I may have heard the word "flâneur" before; but it came up twice in unrelated contexts on the same day, a month or so back,...
flokati
A "flokati rug," also known as a "flokati," is a particular kind of Greek rug, according to MW11....
agita
I recently encountered the word "agida," though I'm no longer sure where. Turns out MW11 spells it "agita," and defines it as a feeling of anxiety. One might assume that...
pump and bomb
Kam tells me that in Spanish, firefighters are "los bomberos"; turns out that "bomba" means both "bomb" and "pump." The similarity of the two words made me wonder if they...