Saturday, March 17, 2012

Word of the day: spaldeen

The word of the day is spaldeen:

Origin:
said to be after Spalding  a trademark
 Chiefly New York City .
a smooth, pink rubber ball used in playing catch, stickball, etc. (dictionary.com)

"The paintings -- closeups of manhole covers with their cryptic labyrinthine pattern of raised welts, loving roseate sunsets that turned out to be the sheen and scuff on a spaldeen -- had multiplied; there were so many of them now that the artist had been obliged to carve a trail, as it were, among them, that would permit access to the kitchen table, where David and I now sat down."

 - Michael Chabon, "Citizen Conn", 13 & 20 February 2012 The New Yorker

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