cookie monster: in bowling, a 5-7-10 split.
dark side of the moon: political slang for the House of
Representatives.
esprit de l'escalier: a French phrase that
describes having a witty remark or cutting sentence you don't think of until
it's too late to use it.
gender blender: An attachment that allows two female or
male plugs or ports to connect. It can also be called a gender changer or
sex changer.
genius loci: Latin for the "spirit of place," the
feeling of the place. The atmosphere.
Go n' ite an cat tú, is go n' ite an diabhal an cat: Irish
Gaelic meaning "May the cat eat you, and the devil eat the cat."
God Bless You: a mnemonic to remember the order of colors
in snooker—Green, Brown and Yellow.
hack attack: a burst of manic computer programming.
King Phillip Came Over for Gold and Silver: A mnemonic
device for remembering what I prefer to think of as the order of
life—Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species.
(With a tip of my hat to my niece, Dr. Janet Mihuc.)
Middle Ages/Dark Ages: The Middle Ages were roughtly 500
A.D. to 1500 A.D. The Dark Ages, which are when Europe wallowed in
ignorance, intellectual stagnation and poverty, were approximately 500 A.D. to
1000 A.D.
mon petit chou: a favorite French pet name meaning
"my little cabbage."
nymphe du pavé: French phrase meaning "nymph
of the pavement." In English usage, it's spelled "nymph du pave." A
prostitute. Specifically, a street prostitute. (At least the French make
her sound pretty. We tend to come up with terms like "beefsteak" or
"bangtail" or just "ho," though to be fair we do have "pavement princess" and
even the very similar, though rarely used, "nymph of the night.")
sneaker net: what a company has when they have two or more
computers and no computer network.
Vada via che sa di aglio.: Italian phrase meaning
"Buzz off, garlic breath."
wack the pack: cut the cards.
writ of God-help-us: any esoteric legal plea to get a
criminal off.