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DECALCOMANIA

PRONUNCIATION: (de-kal-kuh-MAY-nee-uh)

MEANING: noun:
1. The process of transferring a design from a specially prepared paper onto another surface.
2. A decal: a design on a specially prepared paper made to be transferred onto another surface.

ETYMOLOGY: From French décalcomanie, from décalquer (to transfer a tracing), from de- (from) calquer (to trace), from manie (craze). Earliest documented use: 1864.
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DECAL CO. MANNA - food paid for by the decal company

RECALCOMANIA - compulsively rechecking one's arithmetic again

DE-CALICOMANIA - having an irresistible urge to get rid of three-colored cats (usually black and white and orange)

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GROUNDHOG DAY

PRONUNCIATION: (GRAUND-hog day)

MEANING: noun: A situation in which events are repeated as if in a loop, especially when such events are of a tedious or monotonous nature.

ETYMOLOGY: After the 1993 film Groundhog Day in which the lead character, a television weatherman, relives a day in a time loop. Earliest documented use: 1994.
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GROUNDDOG DAY - holiday to celebrate Korean sausages

GROUNDFOG DAY - holiday to celebrate exceedingly high dew-points

GROWN D'HOG DAY - holiday to celebrate bacon

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RASHOMON

PRONUNCIATION: (RASH-uh-mahn)

MEANING: adjective: Relating to differing accounts or subjective interpretations of an event.

ETYMOLOGY: After the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon (based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s 1922 short story “In a Grove”) which showed a crime described by different people in different ways. Earliest documented use: 1961.

NOTES: In the film Rashomon, four people (a bandit, a samurai, his wife, and a woodcutter) narrate the details of a crime differently. Their stories are plausible, yet contradictory. The film touches upon the unreliability of eyewitnesses and the subjective nature of truth, reality, and memory. This phenomenon is also known as the Rashomon effect. The traditional story of the elephant and six blind men is another instance of this. It’s good to remember this the next time we feel too confident in our beliefs, perceptions, and experiences. Ultimately, we all can be unreliable narrators.
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RASTO, MON - a Caribbean religion

RASHOMOON - full moon during the monsoon, when people get skin lesions

BASHŌ MON. - the Monday when we read Zen ko-ans

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KING KONG

PRONUNCIATION: (king KONG)

MEANING: noun: Something or someone of great size, strength, etc.
adjective: Huge.

ETYMOLOGY: After the title character of the 1933 film King Kong that depicts a huge ape-like monster. Earliest documented use: 1933.
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KING SONG - You've Got a Friend

KING TONG - the biggest Chinese gang

KIN KONG - the big ape had a family

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MAD MAX

PRONUNCIATION: (mad MAKS)

MEANING: adjective: Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, anarchic.

ETYMOLOGY: After the 1979 film Mad Max and its sequels that portray a world marked by anarchy and extreme violence. Earliest documented use: 1986.
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MAD MAC - the latest fast-food burger. Crazy, man!

MAMA X - mother of Malcom

MAD MANX - tailless cat with rabies

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GODZILLA

PRONUNCIATION: (GOD/guhd-zil-uh)

MEANING: noun:
1. Someone or something of enormous size.
2. Someone or something fierce, frightening, monstrous, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After the 1954 Japanese film Gojira released in the US in 1956 as Godzilla. The film features an enormous dinosaur-like monster. Earliest documented use: 1965.
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GOD-ZILLO - heavenly properties for sale

GOLDZILLA - an idol worshiped by the followers of Gojira

D.O.D.-ZILLA - a hugely bloated Department of Defense

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ROSE-COLORED

PRONUNCIATION: (ROZ-kuhl-uhrd)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Optimistic or cheerful, especially naively or to an unrealistic degree. Often used in the form “to see through rose-colored glasses”.
2. Of a bright pink or red color.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin rosa (rose), from Greek rhodon (rose). Yes, a rhododendron is a rose tree, literally speaking. Earliest documented use: 1526.
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DOSE-COLORED - identified with colored markings so you can tell how much (radiation, medication, capacitance) you're getting

ROSS-COLORED - red, white, and blue. Just ask Betsy!

ROE-COLORED - pink or black, depending on whether it's salmon or sturgeon

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TAJ MAHAL

PRONUNCIATION: (taj/tazh muh-HUHL/HAHL)

MEANING: noun: Something, especially a building, that is luxurious or an extraordinary example of its kind.

ETYMOLOGY: After Taj Mahal, a mausoleum in Agra, India. Earliest documented use: 1860.
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"RAJMAH AL" - chief cook in that great Indian restaurant

TAN MAHAL - they couldn't get any more white marble

TAJMA HAM - a curried pork dish

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HOTHEADED

PRONUNCIATION: (HOT-hed-id)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Easily angered.
2. Very angry.
3. Rash.

ETYMOLOGY: From hot, from Old English hat + head, from Old English heafod (top of the body). Earliest documented use: 1603.
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HOT-BEADED - decorated with stolen jewelry

POT-HEADED - confused by repeated marijuana use

ROT-HEADED - afflicted with brain-eating amebas

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CHICKEN FEED

PRONUNCIATION: (CHIK-en feed)

MEANING: noun: A small amount of something, especially money.

ETYMOLOGY: From chicken, from Old English cicen + feed, from Old English fedan. Earliest documented use: 1834.

NOTES: Why chicken feed, as opposed to, say, cattle feed. The term alludes to a chicken’s relatively small size and hence their needing a small amount of feed. Also, they scratch at the soil in search for insects, seeds, etc.
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THICKEN FEED - throw in some starch so the feed isn't so runny

CHICKEN FEET - the little wrinkles that radiate form the outer corners of the eyes as we age

CHUCKEN FEED - how I spent last summer, workin on the farm

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