QuacksO's definitions

calleague

A business associate whom you usually interact with by telephone, rather than in person.

Now that cell phones are so prevalent, it's easier than ever before to keep in touch with your calleagues.

by QuacksO October 30, 2018

warm-up work

Refers to comparatively short intervals of labor that you perform in one of two situations:
(1) Where you are dreading an impending "big job" that involves strenuous and/or disgusting labor, and so you perform a less-disagreeable task beforehand to sort of "break yourself in gently" so that the upcoming drudgery won't be such a traumatic shock to your mind and body.
(2) Where a necessary task is tiring, discouraging, boring, aggravating, etc., and so you would much rather play video games or surf the Web, instead of performing said menial torture. So what you do is to "compromise" --- you do indeed go ahead and push the "power" button on your computer or PlayStation, but then you go off and perform some of the disagreeable task while your entertainment-equipment is booting up; you would still have to wait those few minutes before beginning your fun with the equipment, anyway, and so it doesn't feel quite so "yucky" to hammer away at the exhausting ordeal for those same few minutes; it also makes you feel more productive during that period than just numbly twiddling your thumbs while waiting for your equipment to be ready to use.

As a physically/mentally-infirm bachelor living alone, I find that warm-up work is a real life-saver for many necessary tasks that I might otherwise find excessively discouraging or exhausting, such as hanging out clothes on the line or cleaning up around the yard. I also often Swiss-cheese the job --- working a little of the chore, then taking a break to play on the computer for a few, then going back to tackle the cranky task for a little longer, then checking out a few more humorous/cute Facebook posts, and so on.

by QuacksO October 30, 2018

Because I said so!

An imperious reply that an authority figure --- most often a parent --- impatiently tells someone under his/her care when he does not wish to admit that there is literally no good/valid reason why said dependent should have to comply with the directive, but the authority figure doesn't want to admit it.

Kids are smarter than you think --- if you tell them, "Because I said so!" even just once, they will never trust your judgement again.

by QuacksO October 30, 2018

hippo crates

Huge sturdy packing-cases specially designed for humanely shipping large water-loving herbivores. Invented by the famous ancient philosopher.

Too bad Hippocrates wasn't born more recently, or his animal-transporting invention would have been much easier to create --- he could have just lined a number of modern large metal shipping-containers with foam-rubber, added fresh-air vents and some form of toilet-fixture, and voila! --- hippo crates.

by QuacksO October 30, 2018

druidgery

The assorted difficult/tedious tasks associated with practicing ancient Celtic culture.

Performing elaborate ceremonies in long cumbersome robes is real druidgery --- I dunno how those ancient Irishmen and Scotsmen ever put up wif dat debilitating crap!

by QuacksO October 30, 2018

haireditary

The unique properties (color, thickness/amount, texture, etc.) of one's scalp-fur that are passed on by his ancestors.

I began to get "thin on top" in my early twenties --- I hear it's haireditary.

by QuacksO October 31, 2018

pass and stow

Evasive maneuvers (i.e., pass the buck and stow your wealth in overseas accounts) that you must take to stay a step ahead of the law if you perform shoddy metal-casting work for Uncle Sam.

If I was in charge of having some politically-important metal-fabrication work done, I would want to perform very careful/thorough research to locate a truly-reputable foundry --- there are far too many "pass and stow" outfits out there!

by QuacksO October 31, 2018