Official Dictionary of Unofficial English-Grant-Barrett-0071458042

ecuavolley

community of life systems. The Ecozoic Era could also be called the “ecological age.”

ecuavolley n. a form of volleyball with a high net, three players per side, and permissive ball-handling rules. Ecuador. Spanish. Sports. [Ecuador + volleyball] This game originated in Ecuador but is increasingly visible in other countries.

1990 Phyllis White; Robert White St. Petersburg Times (Fla.) (Jan. 7) “Ecuador: A Blanket Bargain,” p. 1E ! There’s also a court where the local game, played fiercely here, is “Ecuavolley,” a version of volleyball with a high net and only three players on each side. Any gringo not used to exercising at this altitude will last about the first 10 minutes.

1999 Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld Native Leisure Class (Nov. 1), p. 22

! Aside from water taps and electric poles, Ariasucu’s only public infrastructure is a concrete volleyball court. Beginning around three o’clock in the afternoon, men of any age gather to play three-a-side “Ecuavolley,” betting the equivalent of a day’s wages on the outcome.

2000 Wilma Roos In Focus Ecuador (Oct. 1), p. 66 ! The other favorite is the more obviously named ecua-volley, a game played between two teams of three. According to ecuavolley rules, the net hangs at a height of at least six feet and players are allowed almost to catch the ball before throwing it over the net, a skill disallowed by orthodox volleyball. 2005 Nathan Thornburgh @ Danbury, Conn. Time (Aug. 1) “Serving Up a Conflict” (Int.) ! What’s to blame for the moral rot? It’s not drug dealing or gang wars. In Danbury the vice, according to local officials and longtime residents, is volleyball. Specifically, “ecuavolley,” a form of the game so beloved in Ecuador that when Ecuadorians began migrating en masse to this small work- ing-class New England city, they built backyard courts all over town, some big enough to accommodate up to 150 fans and players.

Ediacaran adj. having characteristics of, belonging to, or designating the Precambrian geological period of the Neoproterozoic Era, 600 to 542 million years ago. Also Ediacarian, Vendian, Neoproterozoic III. Science. [< Ediacara Hills of South Australia]

1983 H.J. Hofmann, W.H. Fritz, G.M. Narbonne Science (July 29) “Ediacaran (Precambrian) Fossils from the Wernecke Mountains, Northwestern Canada,” vol. 221, p. 455 ! The term “Ediacaran fauna” refers to a Late Precambrian assemblage of fossils of soft-bodied animals, mainly coelenterates and annelids, first discovered in the Ediacara Hills of South Australia.... Sparse but nevertheless worldwide finds of the Ediacaran fauna have prompted a call for an Ediacaran (or Ediacarian) Period and system (1–3). 2004 BBC (U.K.) (May 17) “Geological Time Gets a New Period” (Int.) ! Geologists have added a

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elephant

new period to their official calendar of Earth’s history—the first in 120 years. The Ediacaran Period covers some 50 million years of ancient time on our planet from 600 million years ago to about 542 million years ago. It officially becomes part of the Neoproterozoic, when multi-celled life forms started to take hold on Earth.

ego ramp n. a proscenium, catwalk, runway, or stage spur that extends into or over an audience. Entertainment.

1992 Jon Bream Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St.

Paul, Minn.) (Aug. 4) “Guns N’ Roses and Metallica Bring Different Worldviews to Their Monstrous Summer Tour,” p. 1E ! We’ve got an oval thrust stage, and there’s people [fans] inside it in a type of pit. Then when Guns goes on, they cover it up and he [Rose] has got his ego ramp

to go out on. So it worked out pretty good. 1995 Charleston Gazette

(W.Va.) (Feb. 22) “Boyz II Men Lays Claim to Spotlight,” p. P3D ! Even the gimmicks—a for-real rain shower in “Water Runs Dry” and a hanging “ego ramp” that allowed for a romp deep into the crowd on “Motownphilly”—were tastefully applied. 2001 Usenet: alt.music.u2

(Jan. 14) “Re: Golden Circle Seats...How Good Are They?” ! If you want to be anywhere near the very front of the stage, the “ego ramp” or “catwalk” (whatever you want to call ’em) you would want the General Admission Floor. 2004 Clay Robison Houston Chronicle (Tex.) (Sept. 1) “President to Deliver Address on Special Stage” (Int.) ! A 10-hour construction project had begun to erect a new, island-like stage from which President Bush will deliver his acceptance speech tonight surrounded by delegates. It will be the first such use of an island or arena stage—also known as an ego ramp—at a national political convention.

elephant n. a site containing very large mineral or petroleum deposits. Jargon.

1979 Wall Street Journal (Aug. 27) “Hottest U.S. Hydrocarbon Hunt Is in Western Rock Formation” ! Though more than a thousand discoveries are made in the U.S. yearly, “elephant fields”—those containing proven recoverable reserves of 100 million barrels of oil, one trillion cubic feet of gas, or the equivalent in mixed reserves—are rare. 1985

James Cook Forbes (June 17) “Armand’s New Elephant,” p. 66 ! It is sitting on what looks like the biggest new oilfield since the North Sea and Mexico offshore: a giant, by oil industry standards, if not yet exactly an elephant—Cano Limon, in Oxy’s 2.7 million-acre contract in Colombia. 2003 Brent Jang Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.)

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en chinga

(Nov. 25) “Penn West Prefers to Play at Home,” p. B15 (Int.)

! Squeezing out the last drop from existing energy plays makes sense when so many rivals are going overseas to hunt for “elephants”— industry jargon for huge conventional reserves. 2004 Bloomberg.com

(Oct. 27) “Ivanhoe Seeks Riches Selling Output of Mongolian Mine to China” (Int.) ! Vale threw a party in Ulan Bator with samba dancers flown in from Brazil to mark the company’s arrival in Mongolia to search for another “elephant”—mining parlance for a big discovery.

en chinga adv. fast, hurriedly, quickly. Colloquial. Mexico. Spanish. United States. [From the Spanish chingar ‘to copulate; to screw.’]

1997 Usenet: alt.california (Apr. 3) “Mexi-Threats in So. Cal.” ! This means that we are heading into an economic depression, pero en chinga. Jobs will be no more and the peso will be worth more than the dollar. 1999 Usenet: soc.culture.mexican.american (Oct. 1) “Re: David Gleaser Donde Esta” ! Stoy aqui pero ando en chinga. Right now I’m cranking out the implementation of a Framework Based Software Synthesis system based on the Uniform Modeling Language.

2004 Daily Texican (Dallas, Tex.) (Aug. 11) “Cholo Word of the Day— En Chinga” (Int.) ! Well, I’m not sure if this is necessarily a “cholo” word, but it’s pretty damn close. I have to post “en chinga.”...Meaning According To DT: haste, fast, freakin’ quick, in a hurry (might be considered a curse word, depending on who you’re talking to).

endo n. 1. a bicycling accident in which the rider is thrown forward over the handlebars. 2. an intentional bicycle stunt that lifts the bike’s rear tire off the ground. Jargon. Sports. [Perhaps from end-over-end.]

1987 Ray Hosler San Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 7) “Turning Sharp Corners Can Be a Balancing Act,” p. E4 ! Going over the bars is known as an “endo” in bike jargon, and is one of cycling’s more hazardous maneuvers. 1990 Usenet: rec.bicycles (Feb. 13) “Re: Brake Positions”

! This is so that when you are dismounting and have both legs on the left side of the bike, and your right hand is on the top tube or seat— you can still brake (hard) with your left hand without endo-ing.

1990 Usenet: rec.bicycles (July 2) “Re: Drop Bars for Mtn Bikes (LONG)” ! If you’re down low in the drops, I think it would be impossible to jump over the bars during an endo. 2003 [eclipse2000]

Beyond.ca (July 3) “Bike Tricks” (Int.) ! To pull an endo get going a little bit and then slam on your front brakes and lean forward, but not too hard or you will flip. 2004 Mark Davis Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) (May 2) “‘Downhill’ Follows Peaks and Valleys of a MountainBike Legend” (Int.) ! Her life turned upside down, an “endo” in biking parlance. Her brother and best friend, Mark, died in a tragic

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Eurabia

accident overseas. 2004 [Mat] BMX Wastelands (May 6) “Re: Some Flatland Tricks” (Int.) ! hey im gona tell you how to do an endo. there is many ways to do an endo but this is my favorite go at a slow speed then quickly shove your foot in the front tire and lean forward be careful not to flip it now it seems like a basic trick but once you can do it really good it will improve your bunny hop.

estacode n. funds intended to cover traveling costs (of an athlete, politician, etc.). Money & Finance. Nigeria. [Perhaps from the non-public Estacode, the unofficial rules of British civil service (covering all matters of conduct and discipline, including conflicts of interest and political activities) that eventually became the Civil Service Management Code. The Estacode began about 1944.] The term is usually a collective noun but is sometimes also used as a count noun.

[1993 David McKie Guardian (U.K.) (Feb. 4) “The Fall of the Houses of Poulson,” p. 2 ! What there wasn’t was any attention to the Estacode which governs the lives of senior civil servants and says you must never accept gifts from those with whom you have official connections.] 1994 James Jukwey @ Lagos, Nigeria (Reuters) (Jan. 21) “Nigerian Money Changers—Illegal But Flourishing” ! Many people did, including military and other government officials who exchanged estacode, foreign exchange given to them for overseas trips, on the black market rather than in banks. 1994 Utibe Ukim Newswatch

(Lagos, Nigeria) (Oct. 24) “Where Is the Money?” ! An NNPC official told Newswatch last week that the corporation had become the source of free fund for government. “The practice is that the ministry passes over some expenditures to the corporation to pay and debit it later.

But the refund is hardly made by the ministry.” He cited the case of payment of estacodes to ministry officials by the corporation. As at June, the corporation had paid N140 million to the ministry as estacode allowance. 2000 Post Express (Lagos, Nigeria) (Oct. 13) “The Rise and Rise of Cameroon Sydney 2000 Fall-Out” ! No fewer than eight Ministers accompanied the team to USA and were drawing heavy chunks from the scarce estacode, leaving the players to scrounge. 2005 Bisi Lawrence Vanguard (Lagos, Nigeria) (Jan. 27) “Waiting for the Repeal” (Int.) ! Overseas travel allowances, also known as “estacode,” provides a rich source of money for those who are billed to travel with the national teams or other teams engaged in international competitions.

Eurabia n. the (perceived) political alliance of Europe and Arab nations (against Israel and Jews); a name for Europe if its Muslim or Arab immigrants become a large or powerful minority. Jar-

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eveninger

gon. Politics. [Europe + Arabia. Bat Ye’or is usually given credit for this term, although citations earlier than her claimed first usage exist.]

2001 Usenet: nl.politiek (Nov. 17) “Nieuwe naam voor Europa” ! Net tegengekomen op een Berber-forum. Eurabia...Tja, wat niet is kan zeker nog komen. 2002 Sam Orbaum Jerusalem Post (Israel) (Apr. 26) “Resentment and Revenge,” p. 31 ! Within 50 years those poor antiSemitic Christian Europeans will be overwhelmed by a Crusade in reverse, in a veritable Eurabia. 2002 Bat Yeor National Review

(Oct. 9) “Eurabia” ! The ministers and intellectuals who have created Eurabia deny the current wave of criminal attacks against European Jews, which they, themselves, have inspired. 2004 Niall Ferguson N.Y. Times (Apr. 4) “Eurabia?” sect. 6, p. 13 (Int.) ! The Egyptian-born writer Bat Yeor has for some years referred to the rise of a new “Eurabia” that is hostile in equal measure to the United States and Israel.

2004 Alessandra Rizzo @ Rome, Italy (AP) (Apr. 5) “Fallaci’s New Book Hits Bookstores in Italy” ! Describing Europe as “Eurabia”—a mix of Europe and Arabia—Fallaci said the continent “has sold itself and sells itself to the enemy like a prostitute.”

eveninger n. a newspaper published for evening distribution, or an edition of such a newspaper. Media. This term is now common only in Anglophone Asia.

1944 AP @ Madrid, Spain Chicago Daily Tribune (Mar. 5) “Germans Dry Up a Golden Oasis in Monte Carlo,” p. 4 ! Here is what the Eveninger Madrid’s correspondent reports of the gloomy last night of Monte Carlo. 1965 AP @ Budapest, Hungary Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Dec. 9) “Hungary Exports Cowboy Blue Jeans,” p. 20 ! The Budapest Eveninger Esti Hirlap said the last consignment of an important order from Lebanon had just been routed to Szeged, a south Hungarian town. 1982 Xinhua (China) (Jan. 12) “Iranian Deputy Industrial Minister Shot Wounded” (in Tehran, Iran) ! Hojjatoleslam Hassan Monfared, deputy industrial minister of Iran, was the target of a new assassination attempt and narrowly escaped here yesterday, according to eveningers here today. 1996 Business Today

(India) (July 22) “Credibility Crisis,” p. 130 ! That was the day when the managing director of Coltex India, a subsidiary of the New Yorkbased Coltex Inc., had picked up the copy of Mumbai’s leading eveninger kept in his car to read on his way home from work—as had been his practice for years—with the screaming headline: Bis Ordered to Probe Ingredients Used by Cleentooth. 2005 Meghdoot Sharon @ Ahmedabad Business Standard (India) (Feb. 24) “Sambhaav to Hit City Stands in Tabloid Avataar on March 12” (Int.) ! Two vernacular

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eve-teasing

eveningers in the form of broadsheet, Western Times and Aajkal are already existing in the Ahmedabad market and Aajkal reportedly has a wider circulation than Western Times.

eve-teasing n. harassment of, or sexually aggressive behavior toward, women or girls. India. Pakistan. Sexuality. [The term most likely references the biblical Eve, the supposed first woman.]

1960 Times (London, Eng.) (Apr. 22) “Protection for Indian Girl Students” (in Delhi, India), p. 9 ! One aspect of the problem of student indiscipline which is plaguing university authorities in India has been the bullying and harassment of girl students in the few coeducational institutions—a pastime so common that it has been given the name of “Eve-teasing.”...“Eve-teasing” is not, apparently, just the oafish high spirits or ill will of a handful of male students but is rather a symptom of the strong resentment which many students feel against women in the universities. 1963 Selig S. Harrison Washington Post, Times Herald (D.C.) (Oct. 26) “The Sad State of India’s Youth,” p. A8

! Police officials have been discovering that the collegiate enthusiasts who prowl streets in Indian cities are not content to watch the girls go by. Indian newspapers have carried accounts of police roundups in Srinagar, Dehra Dun and other centers for indecent advances at bus stands and traffic intersections.... Happy headline writers have dubbed the new offense “Eve-teasing.” 1974 T.K. Oommen Asian Survey

(Sept.) “Student Politics in India: The Case of Delhi University,” vol. 14, no. 9, p. 787 (Int.) ! Goondaism refers to anti-social behavior of persons who generally indulge in violent and other “illegitimate means” to get things done.... While their student friends go to the classes, they sit in coffee houses or on lawns of the University and indulge in “eve-teasing.” 1978 Ursula M. Sharma Man (June) “Women and Their Affines: The Veil as a Symbol of Separation,” vol. 13, no. 2, p. 232 (Int.) ! To snatch a girl’s dupatta is one of the forms of “eve-teasing” which occurs on many a school bus. 1984 Guardian (U.K.) (Oct. 2) “When the Teasing Had to Stop” (in New Delhi) ! Buses in Delhi are notoriously the worst place for “Eve-teasing”—the Indian term which covers everything from sexual harassment, pestering, groping, whispered obscenities as well as light-hearted cat calls and equivalents of “hello darling.” 1986 Houston Chronicle (Tex.) (May 4) “Girl-Watching Violates Islamic Dictates in Pakistan” (in Islamabad, Pakistan), p. 15 !

Eve teasing or “Eve watching” is watching or trying to meet women, and both are illegal in Pakistan. 2005 Times of India (Apr. 25) “Men at Work” (Int.) ! “Eve-teasing,” a peculiarly Indian euphemism for lewd taunting, was one indignity visited on women on the streets.

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Eye-wreck

Eye-wreck n. a jocular name for Iraq. Iraq.

2001 Usenet: soc.history.what-if (Oct. 16) “Re: WI the Terrorists Win?”

! If we are ever attacked with Ebola or Plague you will see some major league dying. Of course if that happens the U.S. was go on a rampage. Allah help Afghanistan and Iraq (which will soon become eye-wreck). 2004 [John Koch] Just World News (July 21) “GroundLevel Reports from Inside Iraq” (Int.) ! None of the “that stuff in EyeWreck” news will fit the American categories of perception and discourse. Hostile Iraqis, Abu Ghraib, gesticulating clerics, robed jihadist, incessant street bombings—none of these things fit the script. 2004 [Tickyul] Drudge Retort (Dec. 25) “GOP May Challenge Wash. Governor Recount” (Int.) ! After 9-11 one of the first things we should have done was secure the borders of this country, not go to trashcanistan and meddle with a bunch of savages. Look at eye-wreck, what a fucken mess.

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F

fair y ring n. a naturally occurring ground circle caused by fungi or other biological agents; figuratively, a fanciful ring or circle of mystical or unusual behavior or action. Biology. Environment.

1844 Ohio Repository (Canton, Ohio) (Jan. 11) “The Paradise of Contentment,” p. 1 ! The rosy horizon beyond which youth cannot see— the gay rainbow that overarches fancy’s landscape—the halo that genius spreads around the barren pathway of existence—the green and fairy ring encircling over the beloved! 1855 N.Y. Daily Times (2) (Oct. 25) “The Newcombes” ! Our poor friend the Colonel, disappointed in his first scheme, hopefully blesses the union, and prays once more for that domestic happiness which he fondly believes can only be found within the fairy ring of home. 1872 N.Y. Times (Mar. 3) “Fairy Rings,” p. 2 ! Everyone who is accustomed to the country knows a “fairy ring” when he sees it. Each ring is only a belt of grass of a much darker green than that surrounding it.... If the grass of these “fairy rings” be examined in the Spring and early Summer, it will be found to conceal a number of agarics or “toadstools.” 1984

Richard A. Kerr Science (Feb. 10) “Why Are There Any Nodules at All?” vol. 233, p. 577 ! Some sediment dweller has built its mound hard against a nodule. And on the left is a “fairy ring” of unknown origin that seems to be slipping and perhaps rolling nodules into its moat.

1984 Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.) (May 26) “The Price of Success in the Lawn Care Trade” (in Plainview, N.Y.) ! Property values, neighborhood competition and the challenge of nature aside, the suburban psyche will not rest while the hairy chinch bug and the fairy ring fungus are at work. 1990 Leo Schofield Sydney Morning Herald

(Australia) (May 22) “Cholesterol People, Beware,” p. 3 ! For a minute there we thought some radical new accompaniment might break the spell of this fairy ring of cloned presentations. 2004 Joe Rigney Santa Cruz Sentinel (Calif.) (July 22) “Redwood’s Amazing Biology Makes Them Survivors” (Int.) ! Evidence of logging is best visualized by the way redwoods grow in rings, sometimes referred to as “fairy rings.” These are caused by the resprouts that grow around a stump. You can get a sense of how big the original tree was by measuring the inside of the fairy ring.

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fan service

fan ser vice n. a feature, inside joke, or obscure reference included in entertainment primarily to please a core fan group, or a work of entertainment expressly created for that purpose; (hence) in anime and manga, visuals that include nude or semi-nude figures.

Entertainment. Sexuality.

1991 Usenet: rec.arts.anime (Nov. 15) “Re: Silent Mobius” ! I think the movie was made for fan service and/or to investigate the potential market for bigger project. 2000 Usenet: rec.arts.anime.misc (Dec. 1) “Re: What’s a Fan Service?” ! Fan service is anything in media that is there because the creators think it will please the fans, not because it advances plot, theme, character, or any other overall value of the work. 2003 Judith S. Juntilla BusinessWorld (Philippines) (May 16) “The Matrix Reloads—Where’s That Damn Spoon,” p. 38 ! Now we come to The Matrix. Fans of this movie are a different lot. Not only do you have to satisfy their craving for gee-whiz visual effects, you also have to live up to their lofty expectations of what has been called “The Thinking Man’s Action Movie.” These are Star Wars fans all grown up; they’ve been betrayed by George Lucas who churned out prequels that were no more than fan service. 2004 Susan J. Napier

Japan Spotlight (Japan) (Mar. 1) “Why Anime?” ! That these themes are presented in a package of giant robots, monsters and “utterly puerile fan service” components of adolescent sexuality and humor make it a truly unique experience.

fantouche adj. fancy, extravagant, frivolous. Also fantoosh. Scotland. Scots.

1947 Dictionary of the Scots Language (Int.) ! There are quite a number who consider it more fantoosh to do their shopping in Perth.

1996 Usenet: soc.culture.celtic (May 25) “Re: Cernunous” ! It seems to me very like the situation in England; Scots is closer to the short-word phase, having lost all its fantoosh expressions when it lost its Court and fashionable people in the 1600s. 2000 Usenet: alt.tv.x-files

(Aug. 10) “Re: News from Locarno?” ! We’ll watch some Mitch and later, I’ll try out my sister-in-law’s fantouche recipe on you. *2003

Simon Taylor Scottish Place-Name Society (Scotland) (Aug. 5) “About the Scottish Place-Name Society” (Int.) ! Onomastics is the “leirit or fantouche” word for the study of names of all kinds, especially personal and place-names.

feather lift n. a delicate method of cosmetic surgery involving implanted cords that lift and pull. Health. Medical.

2002 Carla Wheeler Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.) (June 25) “Light Like a Feather,” p. E1 ! Barnes recently underwent a Feather Lift, a

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new cosmetic procedure imported from Russia that employs a tailor’s tools and works by implanting a small, surgical nylon thread under the skin to lift sagging skin in the chin, cheek, eyebrow, jaw or neck areas. 2004 Fashion Week Daily (June 4) “How L.A. Fashionistas Spend Their Summers” (Int.) ! Checking out the new “Feather Lift.” The secret password of this L.A. summer. Some plastic surgeons are already experimenting in the hottest new development in plastic surgery in years: doing less invasive (and quick healing) surgeries with lifting skin with cords attached from one internal area of the face to another.

Fedders house n. a cheaply made apartment building, specifically those featuring highly visible window air conditioner sleeves bearing the brand name “Fedders.” Architecture. NYC. This term is specific to New York City and is usually plural, Fedders houses, in an echo of naming terminology for government-sponsored apartment complexes, such as Walt Whitman Houses. It was coined by Victoria Hofmo, a community activist from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

2004 Paul Berger Gotham Gazette: Community Gazette for District 43

(NYC) (Feb. 7) “Bay Ridge: Fighting the Fedders Houses” (Int.) ! Last year, a group took to the streets to protest the loss of their homes to condominiums and co-ops—buildings they have labeled “Fedders houses” after the air-conditioning units that protrude from the outside walls. 2004 NYC Department of Urban Planning (NYC) (Oct. 18) “City Planning Certifies Zoning Proposal to Preserve Character of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn” (Int.) ! The recent proliferation on detached house blocks of multi-family housing, characterized by some as “Fedders buildings” for the name on the air-conditioning sleeves, prompted local officials to request that Department of City Planning (DCP) study the area. 2005 Greg Mango Brooklyn Papers (NYC) (Mar. 12) “In Bay Ridge, Fedders Doesn’t Mean Cool” (Int.) ! Perhaps most vocal among the complainants decrying the development of “Fedders houses,” as they have come to be known, are residents of Bay Ridge, whose neighborhood awaits city approval of a rezoning measure that would bar such housing developments. So ugly and bland are those buildings, say some, that their most striking architectural trait may well be the air conditioner sleeve itself.... “I would hope the houses are as well built and as high quality as the air conditioners they’re named after.” The colloquialism, while originating by most accounts in Bay Ridge several years ago, has spread to all corners of the city in recent months.... Bloomberg has used the term “Fedders houses” on numerous occasions and, said Coffey, uses it when referring to zoning measures in other neighborhoods and boroughs.

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