al-in-chgo's definitions
The five thriller novels by American author Patricia (STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, THE PRICE OF SALT) Highsmith (d. 1995) that have the amoral but sympathetic Thomas Ripley as their hero.
These books are: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley's Game (1974), The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980) and Ripley Under Water (1991). It is alleged that Ms. Highsmith coined the self-effacing and jocular term "Ripliad" herself, although when an anthology of the first three of these novels was published by Everyman's Library in 1998, critics used the term "Ripliad" to refer to those specific three. (In 2011 the Folio Society of London brought out its own three-volume boxed set of exactly the same novels.) However, the first boxed set of all five Ripley novels did not appear until 2008 (THE COMPLETE RIPLEY NOVELS); to them, the term "Ripliad" also applies.
These books are: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley's Game (1974), The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980) and Ripley Under Water (1991). It is alleged that Ms. Highsmith coined the self-effacing and jocular term "Ripliad" herself, although when an anthology of the first three of these novels was published by Everyman's Library in 1998, critics used the term "Ripliad" to refer to those specific three. (In 2011 the Folio Society of London brought out its own three-volume boxed set of exactly the same novels.) However, the first boxed set of all five Ripley novels did not appear until 2008 (THE COMPLETE RIPLEY NOVELS); to them, the term "Ripliad" also applies.
"The one box set I would love Folio Society to put out would be the complete Ripliad by Patricia Highsmith. Probably my favourite author of all time..."
(from blog librarything.com)
(from blog librarything.com)
by al-in-chgo November 27, 2011
Get the Ripliad mug.1) Traditional nickname of Republican party, short for "Grand Old Party."
2) More recently, slang for a pizza topped with pepperoni, onion and green pepper.
(G=Green pepper; O=Onion; P=Pepperoni.)
2) More recently, slang for a pizza topped with pepperoni, onion and green pepper.
(G=Green pepper; O=Onion; P=Pepperoni.)
-- "You should stay, I just ordered a GOP and there'll be plenty of food."
-- "I didn't know they made house calls. What do you mean?"
-- "A GOP is a pizza topped with green pepper, onion, and pepperoni."
-- "I'd love to share, if a political agnostic is allowed to partake."
-- "I didn't know they made house calls. What do you mean?"
-- "A GOP is a pizza topped with green pepper, onion, and pepperoni."
-- "I'd love to share, if a political agnostic is allowed to partake."
by al-in-chgo June 10, 2017
Get the GOP mug.Tom of Finland (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991) was the pseudonym of one of the best-known erotic gay artists of the Post-World War II generation.
He was born Touko Laaksonen, in Finland, and as a young man based his drawings on masculine archetypes like Finnish lumberjacks, and later the soldiers and sailors he knew (sometimes intimately) during World War II.
His original erotic images were submitted and ran in USA and Japanese physical culture journals of the 1950s. In the Sixties, with the decline of overt censorship, his drawings became yet more explicit and ran in many of the then-new gay magazines.
Typically Tom of Finland men, clad or not, have large bulging muscles, very large penises, a readiness to engage in any kind of gay sex (often in very unorthodox locations), and a sense of humor. Many of today's gay artists owe much of their visual style to Tom of Finland, and the artist himself is still widely recognized by gay men.
The Tom of Finland Foundation exists to perpetuate his work and to serve as a showcase for young artists.
.
He was born Touko Laaksonen, in Finland, and as a young man based his drawings on masculine archetypes like Finnish lumberjacks, and later the soldiers and sailors he knew (sometimes intimately) during World War II.
His original erotic images were submitted and ran in USA and Japanese physical culture journals of the 1950s. In the Sixties, with the decline of overt censorship, his drawings became yet more explicit and ran in many of the then-new gay magazines.
Typically Tom of Finland men, clad or not, have large bulging muscles, very large penises, a readiness to engage in any kind of gay sex (often in very unorthodox locations), and a sense of humor. Many of today's gay artists owe much of their visual style to Tom of Finland, and the artist himself is still widely recognized by gay men.
The Tom of Finland Foundation exists to perpetuate his work and to serve as a showcase for young artists.
.
"I can spot a Tom of Finland illustration at a hundred paces."
"Me, too, but sometimes his more recent imitators trip me up."
.
"Me, too, but sometimes his more recent imitators trip me up."
.
by al-in-chgo March 22, 2010
Get the Tom of Finland mug.The cliche "hard-and-fast solution," as in "American energy independence offers no hard-and-fast solutions," upon mishearing becomes a Pornality (q.v.) and figures into the more risque examples below:
"Liz, I've been drinking too much, there isn't going to be any harden-fast solution in bed tonight."
"Uncle Joe, I'm sorry your love life is on the skids but if you're looking for a harden-fast solution there's always Viagra."
Thom -- "Quick-setting concrete for your breezeway! That can be your harden-fast solution!" Timm -- "Don't talk dirty."
.
"Uncle Joe, I'm sorry your love life is on the skids but if you're looking for a harden-fast solution there's always Viagra."
Thom -- "Quick-setting concrete for your breezeway! That can be your harden-fast solution!" Timm -- "Don't talk dirty."
.
by al-in-chgo May 23, 2010
Get the harden-fast solution mug.Careful! It doesn't mean "got milk?" as in the ad campaign.
Nor does it mean "do you(the store) have milk? That's an American idiom.
To see if a shop with a Spanish-speaking proprietor has milk for sale, ask "Hay leche?" (aye LAY-chay?) "Hay," (pron. like long "I" in English") plus the word of which you seek, is very useful to ask: is it here? OR are they here?
If the person behind the counter is a pregnant female, asking "Tiene leche?" would mean "Do you have breast milk?" It implies that anyway if one is strictly literal.
Say "Hay leche?"
Nor does it mean "do you(the store) have milk? That's an American idiom.
To see if a shop with a Spanish-speaking proprietor has milk for sale, ask "Hay leche?" (aye LAY-chay?) "Hay," (pron. like long "I" in English") plus the word of which you seek, is very useful to ask: is it here? OR are they here?
If the person behind the counter is a pregnant female, asking "Tiene leche?" would mean "Do you have breast milk?" It implies that anyway if one is strictly literal.
Say "Hay leche?"
Customer, wanting a liter of milk: "Tiene leche?"
Clerk, a young pregnant women, blushes and says, "No se." (I don't know.)
Customer does the right thing on the rebound: "Hay leche en esta bodega" ("Is there milk to be had in this shop?")
--Proprietress: "Si, sen~or. Alli! Alli (ay-YEE)!. "Yes, sir, over there! Over there!"
note from contributor: is there a macro-less way on a keyboard to simulate upside-down exclamation marks and question marks?
Clerk, a young pregnant women, blushes and says, "No se." (I don't know.)
Customer does the right thing on the rebound: "Hay leche en esta bodega" ("Is there milk to be had in this shop?")
--Proprietress: "Si, sen~or. Alli! Alli (ay-YEE)!. "Yes, sir, over there! Over there!"
note from contributor: is there a macro-less way on a keyboard to simulate upside-down exclamation marks and question marks?
by al-in-chgo October 6, 2010
Get the Tiene leche? mug.Legoland is that place in your town or urban area where medium-height buildings (10-25 stories) seem to have sprouted almost overnight between about 1985 and today. Such an area with a high Legoland factor will boast modestly asymmetrical offices and hotels, and a fair degree of dark gray window glass, set among multilane roads and parking garages. Because of zoning designed to benefit large corporate builders, there will be an absence of such attractive nuisances as billboards and strip malls. Public transit will be close to nonexistent.
--What's the most Legoland place in the Chicago area?
--Many people would say Schaumburg but I would nominate the area west of Chicago at the intersection of the I-88 Reagan Toll Road and I-355. The buildings are all modern and were probably considered modestly daring in the past 25 years when they were built, but in reality are unchallenging and dull.
--Why doesn't Schaumburg qualify?
--It has some newer buildings but also lots from the mid-Sixties to the mid-Eighties, a style more Judgment City than Legoland.
(see "Judgment City").
--Many people would say Schaumburg but I would nominate the area west of Chicago at the intersection of the I-88 Reagan Toll Road and I-355. The buildings are all modern and were probably considered modestly daring in the past 25 years when they were built, but in reality are unchallenging and dull.
--Why doesn't Schaumburg qualify?
--It has some newer buildings but also lots from the mid-Sixties to the mid-Eighties, a style more Judgment City than Legoland.
(see "Judgment City").
by al-in-chgo June 19, 2011
Get the Legoland mug.How a person travels (frequently impromptu) who uses no special-affinity credit cards (that tie into retailers, hoteliers, etc.), keeps no priority accounts with hotel chains, does not accumulate airline miles, nor qualifies for rebates or discounts, nor contributes to add-a-dollar or round-it-up programs.
"When I travel I go where I want to go when I want to go. I don't travel often, but when I do I pay standard fare or phone ahead. I don't rack up hotel points, airline points, Amtrak points, cruise-ship points, department store points, major-league team points, hotel/motel points, rent-a-car points or charity points. I pay what I pay and if it's too much, I shop around or don't go. Nobody needs to know my password or log-in, and I don't get a dozen e-mails a week. I get bumps and privileges like you wouldn't believe. Nothing influences my choice of company or chain when I travel. That's called flying Priority None."
by al-in-chgo May 10, 2010
Get the Priority None mug.