"Economic moat" is a term coined by investor Warren Buffet. It means how susceptible a company is to competition by other companies. Coca-Cola and Phillip Morris (Marlboro cigarettes) are companies with wide economic moats because of the popularity and consumer loyalty of their marquee brands. Boeing has a narrow but deep economic moat because its 777 and 787 aircraft are not subject to immediate displacement, but companies like Airbus and Bombardier could play catch-up over the course of several years by developing similar models that would threaten their primacy. That would close the moat.
-- "Give me an example of a company with a wide economic moat."
-- "The local water company, because no competitor can rush right in with a distribution system (pipes)."
-- "Besides, who else is gonna fill that moat? lol."
-- "The local water company, because no competitor can rush right in with a distribution system (pipes)."
-- "Besides, who else is gonna fill that moat? lol."
by al-in-chgo May 03, 2013

The process of erection in a man, whereby his penis gets stiffer and larger, and sometimes points away from the body at an angle.
Adjective form: "tumescent."
After sexual outlet, the reverse process is called "detumescence" (see listing).
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Adjective form: "tumescent."
After sexual outlet, the reverse process is called "detumescence" (see listing).
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"It was a pretty normal tumescence, but it took longer than usual."
"Maybe you've been having too much sex. Or it's just a consequence of getting older."
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"Maybe you've been having too much sex. Or it's just a consequence of getting older."
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by al-in-chgo March 13, 2010

Slightly old-fashioned term for what is usually today called a "Billy Club" or (UK) an officer's baton, a rodlike piece of wood, usually painted black, worn by police to strike or subdue suspects.
In the USA many registered, private security guards who are not licensed to carry firearms may carry a Night Stick.
Certain phallic implications are almost inevitable.
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In the USA many registered, private security guards who are not licensed to carry firearms may carry a Night Stick.
Certain phallic implications are almost inevitable.
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In the 1940s, practically every American beat patrolman was equipped with a .38 revolver and a black Night Stick.
In the 1940s, practically every American beat patrolman was equipped with a .38 revolver and a black Night Stick.
by al-in-chgo March 02, 2010

Alternate spelling of "roughhousing" with one "h" omitted. Compare thresh-hold, threshold.
Means mock-fighting or wrestling, grabassing, or physical fooling around, usually between boys of similar age.
See also fooling around.
Means mock-fighting or wrestling, grabassing, or physical fooling around, usually between boys of similar age.
See also fooling around.
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"Don't put the twins together in the back seat or they'll be roughousing all the way to the mall."
"Don't put the twins together in the back seat or they'll be roughousing all the way to the mall."
by al-in-chgo August 18, 2010

A mark of punctuation ( \ ) introduced in 1960 as a deliberate way to convert two ALGOL symbols ("up" and "down" carets) into ASCII by using the new backslash and its traditional opposite number, the virgule or slant ( / ):
\/ - or - /\ for example.
The backslash went on to find use in early UNIX programs and today is party of a typical QWERTY keyboard, usually to the right of the bracket (and braces) keys. Other terms for the mark include slosh, reverse virgule, and reverse slash.
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\/ - or - /\ for example.
The backslash went on to find use in early UNIX programs and today is party of a typical QWERTY keyboard, usually to the right of the bracket (and braces) keys. Other terms for the mark include slosh, reverse virgule, and reverse slash.
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If I see a backslash ( \ ) at the end of the line, does it mean go to the next line or go to the next term?
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by al-in-chgo March 03, 2010

Scanlation, from SCAN (or 'SCANned') + transLATION, is the unauthorized translation of a foreign graphic novel, usually Japanese yaoi or other sexually explicit work, from Japanese into English. Typically the scanlator scans the hardcopy text into a computer, and electronically whites out the Japanese characters in the thought balloons to replace them with English text.
Illegality is the essence of scanlation, as opposed to authorized translations in which rights are granted, royalties scheduled, and chain of intellectual property is maintained. Many scanlators will argue that the more erotic or hardcore types of manga (yaoi, bara maga) are rarely translated into English, and that even a Japanese best-seller can sit untranslated for years. (Example: the graphic novels of Gengorah Tagame, like his three-volume PRIDE, which has as subject matter the training of a novice in BSDM techniques and includes very explicit sexual language and images, and scenes of torrture.)
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Illegality is the essence of scanlation, as opposed to authorized translations in which rights are granted, royalties scheduled, and chain of intellectual property is maintained. Many scanlators will argue that the more erotic or hardcore types of manga (yaoi, bara maga) are rarely translated into English, and that even a Japanese best-seller can sit untranslated for years. (Example: the graphic novels of Gengorah Tagame, like his three-volume PRIDE, which has as subject matter the training of a novice in BSDM techniques and includes very explicit sexual language and images, and scenes of torrture.)
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-- "I'm reading a scanlation of a Japanese 'bear-loving-bear' manga."
-- "Is it any good?"
-- "Definitely gets the plot points across, though sometimes the English is a little sketchy. The scanlator uses spellings like "colour" and "honor" so it's probably someone from the British Commonwealth or perhaps a Japanese person who learned English using English spellngs. No way of telling, really, their blogs don't have to say where they live or what they do."
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-- "Is it any good?"
-- "Definitely gets the plot points across, though sometimes the English is a little sketchy. The scanlator uses spellings like "colour" and "honor" so it's probably someone from the British Commonwealth or perhaps a Japanese person who learned English using English spellngs. No way of telling, really, their blogs don't have to say where they live or what they do."
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by al-in-chgo April 07, 2010

"Jenny, I'm not lending you my phone any more. It had foo goo on the face that I had to scrape off. Were you eating fried chicken or what?"
by al-in-chgo October 06, 2013
