al-in-chgo's definitions

wink wink nudge nudge

"Wink wink nudge nudge" followed by "say no more, say no more," is a statement popularized by Eric Idle in his Monty Python days in the early 1970s. The winks and nudges are verbal explications of gestures people make when they want to pass on something sly (a wink of the eye and an elbow in the other person's side, nudging). The "say no more" extender means, rather literally, "You don't have to tell me anything more."

This buzz term (or terms) was used when Idle played a character (usually opposite fellow Pythoner Terry Jones as a stuffy Brit), who persistently (and wrongly) tried to put a sniggering sexual implication on perfectly ordinary situations:

-- Idle: "Your secretary, she's a bit of a goer, isn't she?"

-- Jones (perplexed): "Umm, perhaps."

-- Idle: "Wink wink nudge nudge. Say no more, say no more."

Within the past 30 years "Wink wink nudge nudge" has also taken on almost its exact opposite meaning, used sarcastically to mean something along the lines of "I'm sure it's painfully obvious to us both."

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"Look at her, do you think she runs, do you think she runs?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

(Very broadly): "Wink wink nudge nudge say no more, say no more."

* * *

"Did you have any idea that Senator X was closeted and gay?"

"Oh, wink wink nudge nudge. Anyone gay, or anyone working in official Washington (D.C.) knew it already."
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by al-in-chgo March 25, 2010

controversial

1. Tending to provoke or cause controversy by its nature.

2. A cliche the media use to add intrigue or entertainment value to a cultural manifestation or event that is singularly lacking in zest or inherent fascination.

3. Proceeding from 2., sometimes a semiotic code word used by the media to indicate osentible deviance, such as being homosexual or homosexuality, implying (perhaps unwittingly) that the event or person(s) at hand have a lurid background by definition.

1. "It seems that abortion is controversial no matter what a person says about it."

2. "Today we're going to interview Dr. Judah Wellness, whose new book THINK YOURSELF THINNER has become quite controversial."

3. "The TV color commentators keep calling that figure-skater controversial, but where's the controversy? He himself is quite open about being gay and doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I mean, everyone he knows, knows that he's gay."

--

"I agree, the use of "controversial" just seems a way to add spice; especially since coming out of the closet hasn't hurt him or his career. What is so sad is that so often, the media people are usually very au courant and sophisticated, and know darn well when they are using that tag in a hypocritical way."

by al-in-chgo February 21, 2010

Clappertrap

Bleats of wounded outrage in a tone of arrogant moral superiority from those who have trashed our civil liberties.

Named for James Clapper, head of NSA.

"The President says we weren't informed that our phone records were secretly being turned over to the FBI because we didn't need to know."

"What utter Clappertrap."

by al-in-chgo June 7, 2013

horses and bayonets

Barack Obama's flippant reponse to Mitt Romney's complaint during their third televised debate (October 22, 2012) that the U.S. Navy had fewer battleships than at any time since 1917. Obama's remark that the military has fewer "horses and bayonets, too" makes an analogy that measuring battleships (as opposed to aircraft carriers) is an archaic metric of military power, in much the same way that measuring "horses and bayonets" would no longer indicate an army's might. (NB: Marines are still issued bayonets.)

"The Navy has fewer battleships than at any time since 1917."

"The military has fewer horses and bayonets, too. We live in a different world."

by al-in-chgo October 23, 2012

jockstrap-sniffers

A disparaging way to refer to the type of sports fan, most obvious at the collegiate level, who likes to get a little too close to the players, especially after the game.

Euphemistic synonym: "Rabid fans."

"Before we conduct any interviews, it's a good idea to let the jockstrap-sniffers storm through here. Then we'll shoo them out and get down to business."

by al-in-chgo May 24, 2018

kibble

(From the meat-like chunks given to pets): Something nearly worthless or valueless.

He doesn't know what he's saying and just talks a lot of kibble.

by al-in-chgo March 28, 2022

detumescence

Tumescence in reverse; the process where, after ejaculation, a man's penis shrinks and reverts to "normal" pre-sexual size.

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"I get boners quick but after sex I lose them quick too. My dick goes back to normal size before I can say "detumescence".

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by al-in-chgo March 12, 2010