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Grinning Cat's definitions

feline maneuver

A slip, mistake, or unintentional move, followed through with confidence and panache as if it were intended all along. Cats are masters of this: a cat might leap and miss, then calmly look at you as if to say "Yeah, I meant to do that."
"What's the band doing? That's weird... and interesting!"
"I've never heard them play it that way before; maybe it's a feline maneuver."
"Think they'll do it that way on the CD?"
by Grinning Cat January 6, 2008
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ain't

am not, are not, is not; have not, has not; do not, does not, did not.
"Ain't" ain't a word 'cause "ain't" ain't in the dictionary.
by Grinning Cat January 8, 2013
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eye-literate

How you might feel when you want to use a word in conversation that you're familiar with in reading and writing, you know perfectly well what it means, but you've never heard it spoken, and have no idea how to pronounce it.
"It doesn't matter how many times you click on Font Color. Changing red text to red again won't make a difference. It's eye-dem-... id-em-..." (thinking, "How the *$%^& do you pronounce 'idempotent'??? Guess that makes me eye-literate.")
by Grinning Cat November 4, 2016
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election

The worst system of choosing among candidates for public office -- except for all the others.
"The turnout for the election wasn't even 40% of eligible voters. The winner got a slight majority of that, so four out of five people DIDN'T vote for him. So from that he concludes he has a popular 'mandate'?!"
by Grinning Cat January 5, 2009
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monogamy

The custom or condition of having only one mate in an intimate relationship, of being dedicated to a single partner.
Monogamy is a traditional ideal in various societies, yet many people in these societies are not monogamous.

Cheating (being involved with someone else, with secrecy and deception) is a destructive way to be nonmonogamous. On the other hand, swinging and polyamory (types of responsible nonmonogamy based on the knowledge and consent of everyone involved) are viable choices for some people.
by Grinning Cat March 6, 2008
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Christmahannukwanzadan

A term that, while an attempt to be inclusive of various winter holidays and "festivals of light", also displays ignorance that Ramadan has no connection with the seasons of the solar year. Ramadan (a month of major religious observances within the Islamic lunar calendar) moves backwards through the solar calendar about eleven days every year.

In some years Ramadan gains visibility as it is coincidentally observed near the winter "holiday season", but it actually keeps cycling through the seasons.
In 2010 Ramadan spanned parts of August and September.
In 2011 Ramadan will fall approximately between August 1 and August 29 or 30.
This demonstrates that "Christmahannukwanzadan" illogically groups Ramadan with winter holidays.
by Grinning Cat December 27, 2010
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anticronym

Another name for "RAS syndrome" (short for Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome) -- redundantly using a word in connection with an acronym or initialism that already contains the word. "ATM machine" is an example: the phrase literally refers to an "Automatic Teller Machine machine".
Enter your PIN number when the ATM machine prompts for it on the LCD display.
(That sentence contains several anticronyms.)
by Grinning Cat January 6, 2015
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