clav•i•cle / klavikel / n. (anatomy)


1. technical term for collarbone.


He would miss her french accent, it's way of leaving her words with soft warm edges; he idlely fingered his coffee and thought of the night he'd spent drinking red wine out of her clavicles, wincing slightly as her nipples brushed against his own.

for•lorn / fawr-lawrn / adj.

1. desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.
2. appearing sad or lonely because deserted or abandoned; despairing: forlorn glances.


The street meat vendor said $3.50 and when I gave him a one dollar bill, three pennies and forty nickels he looked at me with the same forlorn expression usually reserved for middle age men standing out in the bitter cold waiting for their dogs to crap.

shiz•zy // shízee // n. adj.

1. the shit, as in very enjoyable or more than satisfactory.
2. for sure, certain. (fo' shizzy).



Margaret put down her spoon. "That mousse au chocolate is tha shizzy!"
"Fo' shizzy my Nizzy." replied John.

ol•i•gar•chy / óligaarkee / n.


1. a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.




It's a good evening. I find myself involved in a highly volatile love oligarchy as Chief of Staff. I estimate I can hold on to this envious position for a few more minutes before I am, once again, mopping floors.

mince / mins / v.


1. to cut up into very small pieces
2. tr. (usu. with neg.) restrain (one's words, etc.) within the bounds of politness.


He was crying lightly now but she would not mince words.
"Tofurky tastes like bullshit Andrew. And I think it's time you admitted it."

den•i•grate /dénigrayt/ v.tr.


1. criticize unfairly; disparage the reputation of (a person).



Chet looked at the message and sighed. "Chet sux ass!" was spray painted across the wall by the back entrance of the school. Another low moment of his high school denigration. He quickly crossed out sux, replaced it with sucks then went inside for first period Physics which was totally going to suck.

he•gem•ony / héjemonee / n. (also see wikipedia)

1. leadership or dominance, esp. by one nation over another.




The manager burst into the shipping room. He bent over hands on his knees breathing heavily.

"Do we have any more of the Innova Dinnerware?"

I looked at Charles. He looked down. As soon as Target ran that commercial of Paris Hilton scarfing down the Innova ceramic plates, people were lined up at the registers.
It was the most absurd thing I'd ever witnessed. These dishes were hideous. It was a wonder that anyone could eat off them to begin with, let alone actually eat them.

"We just need one more sale." He said.

And apparently we were poised to topple last years overall sales quota.

"We're out." I replied slowly.

A droplet of sweat fell from the managers head and hit the cement floor.

"Sorry." I said and winced as the last plate which I had stuffed down my pants shifted uncomfortably.

nas•cent / násent, náysent / adj.

1. (esp. of a process or organization) just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential.

2. in the act of being born.



We pulled the springboard out of the equipment room and placed it just in front of the free throw line. From mid-court I ran as fast as I dared, hit the board, flew up and completely missing the slam dunk, grabbed onto the rim. I swung a bit and dropped down.
"That sucked!"
"Yea, yea. You're next dickhead."
I picked up the ball from the corner and threw it at him. Ryan was stringy but really fast; a nascent athelete of some kind although he was most likely destined to stay on the farm. Backing up all the way to the other end of the gym he ran and hit the board full steam. I watched in awe as he launched, slammed the ball through the mesh, grabbed the rim, turned upside down, let go and landed on the floor with a sick thud. His head bounced one and a half times. I doubled over laughing. He tried to get up and slipped back down. I laughed till my eyes were blurry with tears. Then the blood started pouring out from above his left eye. Pouring.

e•mas•cu•late /imáskyelayt/ v. & adj.


1. castrate, geld
2. make feeble or ineffective


Something about the way she passed the butter was so cold; emasculating intonations dotting the ends of her sentences like tiny knives...no, no. Mark simply could not justify letting her out of the dryer just yet.

me•tas•ta•sis /metástesis/ n. (metastasizing v.)


1. the transference of a disease, etc., from one part or organ to another.


Long after the guise of employment and welcome at the cramped apartment had dissipated, the guest began baking things daily and becoming increasingly creative with their placement. I would often come home from work famished, wanting only a hard boiled egg only to find them all gone, used in the most recent batch of tasteless cookies which I'd later find in my shirt pockets or folded into my clean underwear. This time, as I emptied the crumbled goods into the trash I could feel her gaze on my back. It was coming from the gap between the doors of the armoire. She had begun metastasising from room to room as to complicate the arithmetic of her overstay and I couldn't remember her name or when she had gotten here.