credit-default swap

A classic children's game in which participants pass around an undesirable object and seek to avoid being the last person to hold it.

COMMENT: The child possessing the object at the end of the game, the loser, is called the "ayigee" (pronounced ey-AY-gee).

covert – adjective

Published only in foreign newspapers.

crisis – noun

[Origin: from Greek krisis "decision."]

A set of conditions under which Congress is willing to pass legislation.

core values – noun

The values one holds with the greatest irony.

complex – adjective (reprise)

Sufficiently obscure to couch financial risk.

can – verb

Occurs in at least one of an infinite number of possible worlds (but not necessarily in the actual one).

candidate – noun

A person so committed to public service that he will elbow and slander anyone who gets in his way.

change – noun

A process whereby something sheds one appearance for another while remaining essentially the same (cf. Aristotle Physics I).

I want to do everything I can to help deliver the change America needs. -- Rahm Emanuel

commission – noun

A gathering of elites to resolve the scandals of elites to the satisfaction of elites.

complex – adjective

Beyond the understanding of mortals, save through the intercession of government officials, pundits or scholars.

USAGE: "The situation in Iraq remains complex, difficult, and sometimes downright frustrating," General Petraeus said. (NYT 9/11/07)

cherry-pick – verb

To select the best factual produce for consumption.

COMMENT: Cherry-picking is an American tradition that goes back to George Washington, who after chopping down the cherry tree, selected the best fruits and baked a cherry pie for his parents, claiming that the dessert justified the whole endeavor.

cease-fire – noun

A time-out to reload.

counterterrorism - noun

1. Retaliatory terrorism.

2. The nationalization of terrorism.

3. A strategy for preventing domestic terrorism by deploying troops abroad as human shields.

4. The innoculation of a civilian population from terrorism by exposing it to small doses.

critic - noun

A supporter who wishes to hedge his bets.

consent – verb

To fail to object.

coercive - adjective

Persuasive without the use of words.

corruption - noun

The ultimate trajectory of all natural processes, e.g. biological, thermodynamic, political.

classified - adjective

Not safe for sane viewing.

conservation - noun

The stage between scarcity and cannibalism.

consultant - noun

A species of parasite that attaches itself to the chests of political candidates.