I'd like to force the showrunners up to Scott McClellan's podium and make them explain exactly how all the numbers-related coincidences could be happening without something supernatural at work.

Say it with me now: it's all in Tommy Westphall's head.

You have pom poms.... I don't think they work without the outfit.

At least "skein" is an actual word.

So is "ankle." They're weirdos.

Varietyspeak is fun. I'm for it and all the little insider languages. It's no different than doctor slang (my favorite being, "bad in a sandstorm") or techspeak.

It's no different than doctor slang (my favorite being, "bad in a sandstorm") or techspeak.

Heh, see that just makes me think of "Hercules vs. the Moon Men" on MST3K.

They definitely admit it's to mark the insider group: [link]

It's also less startling when you realize they've been using that language for a century-- they just never stopped sounding like Walter Winchell.

In part it was a device to fit long words into small headlines, but it was also to create a clubby feel among the paper's entertainment industry readers

That's cheesy as hell. I don't mind it when it evolves, but when it's designed for that purpose it makes me @@.

Reading that list of slanguage made me very angry. They're making the language deliberately impenetrable, and grrrr.

What I found interesting, however, was how many common terms used today were apparently coined by Variety, like "biopic" and "sex appeal." And, apparently, "fave." Some of their shortenings are in widespread use these days.

Please tell me (and the disc jockey I was listening to with gritted teeth this morning) that "biopic" isn't supposed to rhyme with myopic.