on the ground

As an adjective, just a place filler, as, "You Know," or, "The thing of it is... " Usually an attempt to give extra impact to a statement.

"There are serious problems on the ground." Meaning, There are serious problems (there).

by Another Reader September 24, 2005

wasp

White Anglo Saxon Protest. Literary use was to distinguish subject from another ethnic category; now primarily meaning non-Jewish.

"Kunkel's hero, 28-year-old Dwight Wilmerding, is a likable, self-conscious doofus, contemporary New York WASP hetero version, .... " NYTimes book review by Jay McInerney, 2005 Aug. 28

by Another Reader September 19, 2005