Today’s Wordbird: SHOWPSHAW

SHOWPSHAW (N.) ‘shope-shaw A person “puts on a showpshaw” when he attempts to deflect a compliment by denying it was justified, whether it was or not. Usage: When the guys at the pick-up basketball game thumped Pete on the back for getting three slam-dunks in a row, Pete couldn’t help putting on a showpshaw. ‘It was just luck!’ he said.

Flamingo, by Elizabeth Zechel

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Tags: Elizabeth Zechel

Liesl Schillinger is a New York-based writer and translator, whose criticism, essay, features and other work have appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Gourmet Live, The New Yorker, New Yor ...read more