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smoot (paid)

  • Dave Wilton

Dave Wilton

19 Nov 2025 • 1 min read
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B&W photo of 5 young men measuring the length of a bridge by having one of them lie down while the others mark the distance
Measuring Harvard Bridge in smoots

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Advertisement for the 1929 film The Sophomore featuring a picture of a young man and woman sharing a soda through two straws
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sophism / sophomore / sophomoric (paid)

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Stylized image of a nightclub with the words “Wordorigins After Dark”
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polysaturation / polysaturated

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Painting of an enraptured audience watching a play where a body lies on the stage, a woman weeps, and a man points accusingly

hokum

1 May 2026 Hokum is a slang term with two main senses. One is something that is overly sentimental or melodramatic; the other is nonsense, something that is false. Like most slang terms, its origin is a bit mysterious, but the most likely explanation is that it is a blend
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