QuacksO's definitions

win/win solution

A total bu**s**t course of action agreed upon by two or more parties; supposedly it comes with benefits for all concerned, but in reality the plan generally ends in disaster, often for everyone involved.

A classic case of a win/win solution "gone sour" --- literally --- would be when a commercial farming-outfit approaches a nearby cash-strapped community to ask if they can pay them some much-needed revenue to dump organic waste in an uninhabited area of the municipality... at first blush it may sound like a good deal, but of course what usually happens in reality is that said waste "stinks to high Heaven" so much that the townspeople angrily vote to close the dump-site, forcing the mega-farm to look elsewhere for a dumpsite, and obliging the town to pay astronomical sums to have the already-dumped waste carted off to be disposed of.

by QuacksO November 7, 2018

Proposition 13

Howard Jarvis's well-meaning attempt to eradicate superstition from the citizenry of California.

Proposition 13 may indeed have helped in reducing one form of irrational terrors, but only about fear of numbers --- it did nothing to alleviate phobias about black cats, walking under a ladder, etc.

by QuacksO November 7, 2018

Sisters of Mercy sin

Refers to an act of ordinarily-frowned-upon nature, but which in extreme circumstances could be overlooked or even approved of. Comes from the nuns' surreptitiously ripping out the plug-wires and spark-coils from the Gestapo's cars so that they couldn't pursue the von Trapp family in "The Sound Of Music"; the emotionally-shaken-but-still-demure habit-clad heroines then ask their Mother Superior for forgiveness, which it can be assumed that she readily gives, considering the horrid fate that would likely have befallen the von Trapps had they been captured.

I needed a few additional nails to complete a super-urgent repair- project, but there was nobody at the hardware store, so I had to just take the nails without paying for them at the time. Again, though, the nailing-task had to be completed right away to avoid fairly horrendous consequences, so I felt that my action was really pretty much a Sisters of Mercy sin. Plus of course I did indeed "square up" promptly with the store afterwards, so the end-result was fine.

by QuacksO November 7, 2018

Kodak bear

A breed of far-northern bear who loves to be photographed.

Admonitions of "Don't feed the bears" should always be heeded, including with tourist-friendly species like the Kodak bear --- sociable as he is, he is still a wild animal and is therefore unpredictable; besides, sweets can make even a normally-docile bear hyper and aggressive, just as it can with humans and horses.

by QuacksO November 7, 2018

infectionate

Refers to amorous feelings/emotions which prompt one or more individuals to engage in STD-risky activities like unprotected sex.

Willie and Monnie interacted in quite an infectionate manner on several occasions while they were employed at the White House.

by QuacksO November 8, 2018

Pencilvania

The American state just south of the New England region where graphite-cored writing-instruments are manufactured.

I was helping my elderly aunt to tidy up the basement in her Susquehanna County summer-house, and I came across a jumbled desk-drawer partly full of shiny new yellow and orange “erasable No. 2’s”; I joked with her that I’d "finally found the pencils in Pencilvania”.

by QuacksO November 8, 2018

sillinnoyed

That stupidly-uncooperative electromechanical switch on your car’s starter that always malfunctions at the worst times, causing you to feel extremely put out.

The sillinnoyed on my car decided to "go dormant" this evening when a local fellow of "questionable nature" stopped by to ask me for a ride, but I think that maybe it was actually just as well that the engine didn't crank in that instance, since I have serious doubts that the dude would actually have been able to come up with the two bucks in gas-money that he’d promised me (“I’m broke myself, but I can ask the other folks in the house for the money when we get there.” Yeah, right --- as if any of his equally-deadbeat pals would likely have had any spare cash, either?!). After he’d walked far enough down the road to be out of earshot, I tried tapping lightly on the starter and switch-housing with a hammer, and then the engine whirled right over… I've always considered my old clunker to be a good and faithful friend to me, so I wonder if perhaps Jalopy had been trying to tell me something, like that maybe I should stop giving people a ride unless they actually have gas-money with them to pay me up-front for said ride.

by QuacksO November 8, 2018