Lexical Compendium
Wait... what is this? Sometimes I come across a word, phrase, idiom, quote, reference, bit of slang, person of interest, etc that either I don't know or I find amusing, interesting, etc. This is a collection of those items so that I can refer back to them in emails, texts, etc.
Recent Entries:
- 17 Jul 2025: Streisand Effect
- 13 Jul 2025: borked
- 08 Jul 2025: Engels' Pause
"Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds"
An English translation of a line from The Bhagavad Gita, written in Sanskrit. A more accurate translation is "Time I am, destroyer of the worlds..."
I first encountered this expression in the late 90s on the CAKE BBS. It appears many times in popular culture:
- Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer
- Bolivar in s01e07 of Xmen '97
- Captain Ramius' diary in Hunt for Red October
- Caleb Smith in Ex Machina
And probably many more.
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References:
Date Added: Unknown
Bees?
There is a "Cards Against Humanity" card that simply reads: "Bees?" It's so fatuous that it has become a common expression for me.
Some on the internet believe that this is a reference to an "Arrested Development" episode.
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References:
- Cards Against Humanity
- Arrested Development clip - perhaps the origin of the card
Date Added: Unknown
Date Modified: 08 Jul 2025
chookas
The word chookas is Australian slang and something performers traditionally say to each other to wish luck before a show. It's similar to the expression "break a leg."
Chook is Aussie slang for chicken. One explanation for how chookas came to be used in the performing arts is that if there was a full house, the theater company could afford a chicken dinner.
Other sources seem to indicate that it was originally pronounced choogas was was an abbreviation of the phrase "cheers and good wishes."
I first came across the word chookas while watching Deadloch (S1, E6).
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References:
Date Added: 01 Oct 2024
Date Modified: 09 Jul 2025
down to raisins
An expression coined by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. It means something similar as "seeing the light at the end of the tunnel." In other words, a task or period is reaching its end.
When Lincoln was asked where this phrase came from, he told the story of a little girl who ate too much and then followed that up with a dessert of raisins. She became sick and, eventually, was throwing up only the raisins. Thus, she knew that she was nearly done.
I came upon this phase while watching Manhunt, S1E6.
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References:
- Anecdotes About Abraham Lincoln - Got Dow to Raisins
- Mr. Lincoln's Whitehouse - The War Effort: Telegraph Office
- IMDB: Manhunt
Date Added: 05 Jun 2024
Date Modified: 09 Jul 2025
neologism
A neologism is a newly coined word or expression.
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References:
Date Added: 30 May 2024
Date Modified: 08 Jul 2025
tilt at windmills
To tilt at windmills means to fight or pursue some imaginary adversary.
I've always found idioms to be an interesting part of language and this is one of my favorites. In Jr. High, my class read/translated Don Quixote de la Mancha, which is where this expression comes from.
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References:
Date Added: 30 May 2024
Date Modified: 08 Jul 2025