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

zaftig

ZAWF-tig

adjective

full-figured

1990John UpdikeRabbit at RestWebb does like them zaftig.1995Eric Van LustbaderSecond SkinOne year the zaftig look was in among models, the next year the waif was all the rage.2000Robert J. SawyerCalculating GodI think Marilyn is lovely, but, well, she's quite curvy-zaftig, even.2000James MorrowAuspicious Eggs (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 2000)Valerie Gallogher, his nephews' zaftig kindergarten teacher, seems on the verge of tears.

Labels: Eric Van Lustbader, James Morrow, John Updike, Robert J. Sawyer

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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gentrification

jen-truh-fuh-KAY-shuhn

noun

migration of middle or high class persons to a low or working class neighborhood; the restoration of a dilapidated community

1981John UpdikeRabbit Is Rich...the old retired people are being forced out by gentrification, the middle class returning to the cities.1997Nelson DemillePlum IslandThere has been some gentrification in recent years, boutiques, trendy restaurants, and all that, but Claudio's remains pretty much the same as it was when I was a kid.1999Ed McBainThe Last DanceThere were sections of Diamondback that long ago had been sucked into the quagmire of hopeless poverty, where any thoughts of gentrification were mere pipe dreams.

Labels: Ed McBain, John Updike, Nelson Demille

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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