Term of the Day: 30-year downward spiral

30-year downward spiral-- a slow agonizing downward spiral, a very wide spiral downward. "The drinking on the job, the two divorces and the fistfight in the alley were all part of his 30-year downward spiral."

Term of the Day: the whole shebang

the whole shebang--the whole operation, everything is included.

Term of the Day: Roundabout Pee Man

Roundabout Pee Man--famously abusive Roundabout extra carpenter, whose signature move is to leave a cup of his own urine out for his target to find. (Other people say the urine was deer urine from upstate New York.)

Term of the Day: "Don't shit where you eat"

"Don't shit where you eat"--don't date at work. Also: "Don't get your meat where you get your bread."

Term of the Day: "What fresh hell is this?"

"What fresh hell is this?"--what new difficult situation are you putting me into? What new problem has developed? From a signature line used by the literary figure Dorothy Parker.

Term of the Day: let him dangle

let him dangle--to let someone hang, to not save someone who is in trouble. "When the deranged contractman threatened his second Broadway head, he got in trouble with his tech and the theater owners. The head he threatened saved his job. Me? I would have let him dangle."

Term of the Day: keep your back against the wall

keep your back against the wall--when you are around people with a tendency to backstab, it is good to protect your back. "When that rat-faced, Tony-winning designer is in the theater, I always make sure to keep my back against the wall, so she can't stab me, or at least I can see it coming."