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A.Word.A.Day--gulag gulag (GOO-lahg) noun 1. The system of forced-labor camp in the former Soviet Union. 2. Any prison or forced-labor camp, especially one for political prisoners. 3. A place of great hardship. [From Russian Gulag, acronym from Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel'no-trudovykh LAGere (Chief Administration for Corrective Labour Camps).] "So it was that (Harry Hongda) Wu, without a trial or even a chance to say goodbye to his family, disappeared into the netherworld of the Chinese gulag." Steven W. Mosher; Barbarians In The Gates; Newsday (New York); Feb 20, 1994. "Kariya stands out, not only because he has been a prolific goal scorer throughout his career. For years, he has been fawned over by the Canadian media -- particularly from his hometown of Vancouver -- who saw playing for the Ducks as doing time in the NHL's gulag." Chris Foster; Vision of Cup Is No Longer an Illusion; The Los Angeles Times; Jun 5, 2003. This week's theme: abbreviations and acronyms. X-Bonus Impiety, n. Your irreverence toward my deity. -Ambrose Bierce, writer (1842-1914) [The Devil's Dictionary, 1906]

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