“Drain the swamp” (clean up government)
The saying "drain the swamp" has had a long history in American politics. The saying originally meant to "drain the swamp" to get rid of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Victor…
Archive for /P36020
Moola or Moolah (money slang)
"Moola" (also "moolah" or "mulah") means "money." Many derivations have been suggested from many languages, but all are lacking in historical citations. A…
Kossack (Daily Kos community member)
The Daily Kos is a progressive political blog, founded in 2002 by Markos Moulitsas. The blog gets its name from the second syllable of the name "Markos." Members of the Daily Kos…
“We are all Keynesians now” (“We’re all New Yorkers now”)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: We are all Keynesians now"We are all Keynesians now" is a now-famous phrase coined by Milton Friedman and attributed to U.S. president Richard Nixon.…
Rockefeller Republican
The political term "Rockefeller Republican" takes its name from Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979), the Republican governor of New York from 1959 to 1973, who then became vice president of…
Newocracy (Newocrat)
Baruch College global business professor Edward Goldberg wrote the The Globalist of March 2010 about "the 'Newocracy,' the United States' new aristocracy who are the true…
“What’s a Grecian urn?” (joke)
"What's a Grecian urn (i.e., earn)?" is an old joke. The answer is sometimes: "About 30 shillings a week." John Keats's poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1820)…
Moneybomb (Money Bomb)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: MoneybombMoneybomb (money bomb, money-bomb, fundraising bomb) is a neologism coined in 2007 to describe a grassroots fundraising effort over a brief fixed time…
Lear Jet Liberal (Learjet Liberal)
"Lear jet liberal" (or "Learjet liberal") is a more modern version of the 1969 New York City term, "limousine liberal." A "Learjet liberal" might be a person…
Reasonoid (Reason Magazine reader nickname)
The libertarian Reason monthly magazine started a "Hit & Run" blog in 2002. Reason readers have been called "Reasonoids" since at least 2004. The nickname…
Great Orange Satan (Daily Kos nickname)
The Daily Kos is a progressive political blog, founded in 2002 by Markos Moulitsas. The blog gets its name from the second syllable of the name "Markos." The website uses the color…
Cole’s Law: Thinly sliced cabbage (coleslaw joke)
Arthur Bloch's 1977 bestseller, Murphy's law and other reasons why things go wrong, included a food joke: "Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage." The coleslaw joke is still…
“They came to do good and stayed to do well” (Washington bureaucrats/politicians)
An old saying of Washington, D.C., is that a politician or a bureaucrat "came to do good and stayed to do well." In other words, the individual came to do good (for others), but stayed to…
Hatriot (hate + patriot)
"Hatriot" (hate + patriot) was used in the 1990s by football fans deriding the NFL's New England Patriots. The term became popular in 2004 and especially during the "tea…
Gliberal (glib + liberal)
The term "gliberal" (glib + liberal) has had a long -- though infrequent -- usage. Newspaper columnist Walter Winchell used "gliberal" in 1947; Averell Harriman used…
Glibertarian (glib + libertarian)
A "glibertarian" (glib + libertarian) is someone who professes libertarian views of limited government, but who actually supports government programs in practice. A…
So-Called Liberal Media (SCLM)
Conservatives have long claimed a liberal media bias in the United States. President Richard Nixon often complained about the liberal media, and he made enemies in the press from 1972 until his…
Daily Kooks (Daily Kos nickname)
The Daily Kos is a progressive political blog, founded in 2002 by Markos Moulitsas. The blog gets its name from the second syllable of the name "Markos." Critics of the blog have called…
Stink Progress or StinkProgress (Think Progress nickname)
Think Progress is a blog from the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress. Critics of Think Progress have dubbed it "Stink Progress" (or "StinkProgress") since at…
Puff Ho or PuffHo (Huffington Post or “HuffPo” nickname)
The Huffington Post (often shortened to "Huff Po" or "HuffPo") was started on May 9, 2005, by Arianna Huffington and others. The website features liberal/progressive news and…