economic moat

"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."

by al-in-chgo May 03, 2013

Abingdon, Virginia

County Seat of Washington County, Virginia, in southwestern Virginia about fifteen miles northeast of the Tennesse border. Population ca. 6,000.

Active (live-)stock market, seasonal burley tobacco market, site of Federal District court which accounts for beaucoup (way too many) attorneys for hire.

Biggest cultural attributes are probably the annual Virginia Highlands Festival held on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College, waggishly referred to as "UCLA(q.v.)," and the Barter Theater, the State Theater of Virginia. Contrary to popular opinion, neither Gregory Peck nor Ernest Borgnine was born or grew up in Abingdon, nor Ned Beatty, although they all played the Barter early in their careers.

Worst-kept secret: The really choice furniture, antiques and miscellaneous items (and often, quite good deals) are not to be found at the open-air Highlands Festival, but at a semi-secret rummage sale held by a consortium of downtown Mainline Protestant churches, named for Plum Alley, which the week-long event occupies.

Little-known facts:

. Interstate 81 runs along eastern edge of town and affords easy access to Bristol, where there is also nothing for young people to do.

. One of several thousand communities in the USA that has earned the right to call itself "the buckle on the bible belt."

. Just for fun, Google for "Abington, Virginia" (note misspelling).

"Abingdon, Virginia? Where is this Abingdon? How long to drive there from Richmond?"

"Oh, about six, seven hours if the Interstates don't clot up too much."

"That's impossible. Nowhere in Virginia takes seven hours to reach from the state capital."

"Look on a road map, for the extreme Southwestern tip which they always put in a separate little box."

by al-in-chgo February 26, 2010

spit in the wind

"Don't spit in the wind" is a commonly euphemized phrase in the USA, out of "Don't piss in the wind," a British nautical phrase with a literal meaning. Both phrases mean "Don't do something self-defeating," in the sense of "If you try to expectorate (urinate), don't do it into (against) the wind or the saliva (urine) will blow back on you in a nasty way."

A futile act is "spitting in the wind." So is a selfless but unheeding act that "boomerangs" or has dire consequences the doer hadn't contemplated, an act that "did more harm than good."

.
"You don't tug on Superman's cape /

You don't spit in the wind / *or 'into the wind'

You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger /

and you don't mess around with Jim."

.

Popular song, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", ca. 1972,

James (Jim) Croce, singer/songwriter.

Lyrics copyright (c) EMI Music Publishing (as of this date).

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by al-in-chgo September 15, 2011

covert

"Covert" means hidden, not discussed, kept under wraps.

.

Every large country has its own center for covert ops operations within its security structure.

by al-in-chgo March 23, 2010

Eight By Six

A term a man, particularly a gay man, might use to describe his penis in length and then by width (sometimes meaning girth or circumference), in inches (20 by 15 cm). He's lying, of course. Or at least, no more than a two percent chance he's in that territory.

If he claims six by eight (six long, eight "wide" or perhaps in circumference), you're getting into choad territory. See choad also spelled chode. Demand immediate proof.

.

"So he told me, 'I've got an eight by six.' At first I thought he was talking about a new kind of car engine, or something. I finally figured out what he meant, but he had already proven himself to be such a jerk that I had no desire to check out that particular attribute."

Old Joke -- Q: What's a Gay Eight? A: Six inches.

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by al-in-chgo March 01, 2010

circumbendibus

Amusing fake Latin, in use since the late Eighteenth Century.

"I'm not going to argue with you any more! We're just going 'round and 'round, and I won't get on that circumbendibus again!"

by al-in-chgo February 12, 2018

de-Jenner-ate

1) The curious process of historical revision whereby a former Olympian can reveal, retroactively, that s/he spent forty years severely questioning his/her own sexual identity, while all the time taking great pains not to allow said sexually ambiguous thoughts to pass into the media.

2) A bipedal hominid who is in no sense of the word a mensch, who has not made a career of M-T-F but still hasn't the guts to cut off his wang and have it splayed open into a plastic pussy; a publicity-grubbing status-seeker and sexual hypocrite.

3) the result of a sex-change operation not to be confused with normal, healthy transsexuals, who has been so corrupted by Hollywood value that s/he thinks that Americans will swallow 40 years of bullcrap just for a photo cover spread and charm offensive.

"Oh, God, there she is again. All OVER the media."

"I wonder if the cereal company will give me back what I paid for my Wheaties box back when she was still a he?"

"It's a very de-Jenner-ate situation."

by al-in-chgo June 08, 2015