Sideswipe: Just gimme my mail, punk

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Pat from Epsom thinks this mailbox (pictured) says it all. It reads: "No circulars, no newspapers, no advertising, no real estate, no unaddressed mail, no bombs, no poison pen letters, no free samples, no government blurbs, no City Scene, Yes to cash, US$ preferred."

Say what?

Hunting out new words and phrases that have appeared in print and online, Word Spy.com - the word lover's guide to new words - is fantastic for broadening your vocabulary:

* Baked potato: A person who watches television or videos while high on drugs - derived from couch potato.

* Reputation bankruptcy: A theoretical system that would give a person a fresh start on the web by deleting all of that person's online texts, photos and other data.

* Allergy bullying: Intimidating a person, particularly a schoolmate, by threatening exposure to a food that the person is allergic to.

* Criminal menopause: The stage in life during which an older, habitual criminal loses interest in crime, or when an older prisoner no longer poses any threat to society.

* Downaging: When companies lower the average age of their employees, either by laying off older workers or by replacing them with younger, cheaper workers.

* Make-under: A change of appearance in which a person is given a simpler look, especially one with little or no makeup and a basic hairstyle.

* Ringxiety: 1. The confusion experienced by a group of people when a cellphone rings and no one is sure whose phone it is. 2. Mistaking a faint sound for the ringing of one's cellphone.

No emergency too small

Mikaela would like to sincerely thank the emergency dispatcher who took her 97-year-old grandmother's call last week.

When her Meals On Wheels hadn't arrived for a few days, she rang 111, and although it would have been easy for the dispatchers to brush her off, they bent over backwards to help out.

They called Meals On Wheels and Gran had a hot meal shortly thereafter. Many thanks from a grateful family!

Today's Webpick: Over the years youth culture has given us Mods, Rockers, Punk, Grunge and now the Hipster. If you're going "huh?", here's a brilliant piss-take of Hipster culture; a synth-heavy tribute to the hipster try hards... Go here.


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