| anecdotage |
Interesting definition: garrulous old age.
Boreing definition: Anecdotes considered as a group.
I first heard anecdotage used on BBC Radio 4 one day. I thought at the
time that it was an invented but wonderfully descriptive word. |
| gerrymander | The action of manipulating the bounderies of a constituency etc. so as
to give an unfair advantage at an election to a particular party or
class.
|
| gonzo | With the recent death of Hunter S. Thompson the word gonzo has been used frequently in the UK media.
From wikipedia.org:
It's a misconception that the term was coined by Rolling Stone writer
Hunter S. Thompson to describe his (often extreme) reporting. The word
is attributed to Thompson, but it was first used by Boston Sunday Globe
reporter Bill Cardoso who, after reading Thompson's infamous Scanlan
Monthly article on the Kentucky Derby, proclaimed "That is pure Gonzo!"
According to Cardoso, 'Gonzo' is South Boston Irish slang describing
the last man standing after a drinking marathon. Thompson himself
would instigate events, often in a prankish or belligerent manner, and
then document both his actions and those of others. The term has also
come into (sometimes pejorative) use to describe journalism (or
generally any writing) that is broadly in the vein of Thompson's
writing, characterized by a drug-fueled, stream of consciousness
technique.
|
| maven | A maven (also mavin or mayvin) is an expert
in a particular field, usually one who is self-appointed and who
seeks to pass his knowledge on to others.
|
| metonymy | The use of a single characteristic to identify a more complex entity.
The phrase "the White House said" is a metonymy, using "the White House" to stand for the presidential administration. |
| privative |
The absence of something. Like dark is the absence of light. |
| reify | To regard or treat (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence. |
| segue |
Soothly transition from one thing to another. Pronounced as segway.
Andrew Marr the presenter of Start the Week on BBC Radio 4 uses seque fairly often. |
| voivodeship | The biggest unit of local government in Poland. |
| wonk | Wonk was originally a 1960s slang word applied to an
excessively studious person more or less equivalent to
"nerd". In the early 1960s at Harvard students were divided into
wonks, preppies, and jocks.
During the administration of U. S.
president Bill Clinton in the 1990s the term "policy wonk" entered
general usage presumably through Harvard graduates taking the word to
Washington.
A "policy wonk" is someone both deeply knowledgeable about
and fascinated by the details of government programs.
"Policy wonk" fell out of general usage in the USA after the election of George W. Bush to the presidency in 2000. However, it is still in use in the UK as of May 2005.
|
Glossary 
