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Mar 22
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By Stephanie
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Ears to the Ground

I’m in the market for a new apartment. I live in New York City, where it’s easier to snag a private box at Yankee Stadium than it is to find a decent, affordable place to hang your hat. I decided to post a note online, asking all of my friends to keep their ears to the ground. Then I paused. Since losing a bitter battle over the phrase “For All Intents and Purposes” – show of hands if you too thought it was “Intensive” – I have paid careful attention to my use of idioms. There’s nothing worse than being *this* close to winning an argument, only to find out that tender hooks aren’t really a thing. I started to experience some serious doubt. Was it ears to the floor? Ears to the door? Ears open? Maybe I should just ask people to listen hard. Fortunately, Google led me here, and confirmed that ears to the ground does, in fact, refer to listening for clues. Until I get a hot tip, you can find me on Padmapper. Fingers crossed for exposed brick.

CategoryLiving, What it Means Tagged , ,
Mar 19
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By steve
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112 vs 911

dial 911

Last week I got an email forward about dialing 112, a new emergency number that is supposedly better than 911. The reasons why were vague so I did a quick search and found that 112 is the emergency number for the European Union. “Ahh.” I think to myself, “Whoever wrote this was confused.” I pick up my iPhone, and flippantly punch 1-1-2-CALL. A second later I’m desperately smashing the power button as I see EMERGENCY CALL flash across my screen… And suddenly I’m haunted by stories from my childhood, of kids dialing 911 and having the cops show up at their doorsteps.

Needless to say, the cops have better things to do than hunt down mistaken emergency calls, so I’m writing this a free man. But I obviously hadn’t been thorough enough in my research, so I hit up Wikipedia. It’s true that 112 is the EU’s version of 911, but it just so happens that all GSM cell phones – of which mine is one – redirect 112 directly to 911. So although you can use it in an emergency, it’s not worth remembering unless you live in, or are planning a trip to Europe.

CategoryWhat it Means Tagged ,
Feb 10
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By steve
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Slang GTA

On my way home from work, an old neon green Impala with enormous wheels catches my eye. “I wonder if that’s a six-fo'” says my brain. And then the song comes. It’s an acoustic cover of NWA’s Boyz in the Hood. It’s a song that I haven’t listened to since high-school, but it came back as if Seacrest had just announced it on American Top 40.

As I belt the tune out at the top of my lungs, in my most exaggerated country accent – because my ’97 Civic is completely soundproof, and surely nobody outside the car can hear me – I’m fascinated by how effortlessly the lyrics flow from my mouth; yet trying to recall seven words of high school Spanish still comes as a fun challenge.

I get to the part where the dude pulls up in a fresh El Camino and says, “It’s all about makin’ that GTA,” and I realize I don’t know what that means. For anyone that’s a Grand Theft Auto fan, you already know the answer, but I haven’t played since college, and I guess it didn’t make as lasting an impression as this song. And for those of you that aren’t Grand Theft Auto fans, it means Grand Theft Auto.

CategoryWhat it Means Tagged , , ,
Jan 25
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By steve
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Crepe Sole

Reason for Search:

One of my Christmas presents this year was a pair of Clarks Desert Boots. The rubber on the bottom seemed strange and the tag said “Crepe Sole.” So I searched.

 

Conclusions:

Crepe rubber is a crude form of rubber that can be cheaply manufactured into sheets (hence no tread). It is also a natural rubber, meaning that it is made primarily from a milky latex substance produced by rubber trees.

Opinions seem to be that they are not as durable as synthetic rubber soles but that they are more comfortable. Added bonus, they don’t track mud because they don’t have tread.

 

Useful Search Results:

http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/kautschuk/naturkautschuk/naturkautschuk.htm

http://www.styleforum.net/t/70844/crepe-sole

CategoryWhat it Means Tagged , , ,
Jan 25
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By steve
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What Does SNS Mean?

Reason for Search:

My brother-in-law Tripp Crosby created a video called Sh*t Nobody Says. It went viral, so he started a twitter account and started hash tagging stuff as #sns. Other people using that hash tag were not talking about his video, so I wanted to find out what it actually stood for.

 

Conclusions:

SNS means “Social Networking Service”

 

Useful Search Results:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_SNS_mean_on_twitter

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