Get any far-flung, multi-generational family together and you’re going to get new words introduced into the collective vocabulary. A daughter’s use of “right” or a cousin’s use of “quite.”

But my family coins new phrases wholesale. Here are some of the ones we’ve come up with this week:

1. Spiral. (adj) Hip, cool, groovy. “This record shop is really spiral.” Author: Fran.
2. Ass clown. (n) A total jerk. “What an ass clown.” Author: George Going to Dover. (v phrase) A trip fraught with minor disasters. Author: Jenn.
3. Evanescence of avuncular remembrance. (n phrase) The affliction that explains why Helen won’t remember Tod next week. Author: Tod.
4. Hot trouser. (adj) Very cool. “That sexy girl is hot trouser.” Author: Tod Posted by kuri at June 15, 2001 09:43 PM