The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

meritocracy

maer-uh-TAW-kruh-see

noun

a system which promotes and recognizes people based on their personal achievements or abilities

1990Michael LewisLiar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall StreetBut the front row was less confident than the back that the firm was a meritocracy of money-makers.1992Kim Stanley RobinsonRed MarsHer ability to function as leader depended on it; for in the end, she thought, they would surely become a kind of loose scientific meritocracy.2002James PattersonFour Blind MiceHe told me it's smart for a black man to find a meritocracy like the Army.

Labels: James Patterson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Michael Lewis

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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halcyon

HAL-see-uhn

adjective

peaceful; prosperous

1900Theodore DreiserSister CarrieIn the view of a certain stratum of society, Carrie was comfortably established—in the eyes of the starveling, beaten by every wind and gusty sheet of rain, she was safe in a halcyon harbour.1988J. G. BallardRunning Wild..a sycophantic newspaper editor nostalgic for the halcyon days of the l980s…1999James PattersonPop! Goes the Weasel...I had once confronted a homicidal twelve-year-old during the halcyon days of the Jack and Jill killers…

Labels: J. G. Ballard, James Patterson, Theodore Dreiser

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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confabulate

kawn-FAB-yoo-layt

verb

chat; chitchat; to shoot the breeze; to substitute imaginary memories for real; to create false memories

1897Eliot GregoryWorldly Ways and BywaysShe does not break the thread of a conversation by irrelevant questions or confabulate in an undertone with the servants.1910Louis Joseph VanceThe Fortune HunterLater, having displayed him on the streets in witness to his good faith, Roland spent the evening with Mr. Burnham mysteriously confabulating behind closed doors in the hotel.1996Ann RuleA Fever in the HeartThere was a question about whether he was confabulating taking a real event and rewriting it so that it emerged in a manner favorable to him.2003James PattersonThe Lake HouseUnlike some children her age, Max doesn't confabulate and she doesn't lie.

Labels: Ann Rule, Eliot Gregory, James Patterson, Louis Joseph Vance

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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