Showing posts with label U. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U. Show all posts

Friday, March 28, 2008

unknown unknown – noun

Something that one doesn't know that one doesn't know (e.g. anything one thinks one knows).

The Unknown

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.


—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
(h/t to Slate)

Saturday, July 7, 2007

untidy – adjective

1. Anarchic, rampageous, contumacious.

2. Violent, murderous, bloody.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

unitary executive – noun

1. The consolidation of governmental powers by the vice president to free the executive branch from the Constitutional checks and balances that constrain the presidency.

2. The full-spectrum dominance of the executive branch over all aspects of the battlefield of government.