Here are the new terms of the day. I’ll be updating the dictionary every day or two, so be sure to check back. I’ll post the new ones at the top, and they’ll also be added to the complete version of The Devil’s Dictionary.
automation the activity that takes place inside the coffee machine in the hallway, on the rare occasions when, after the insertion of a coin, it produces both a cup and some sort of fluid. Alternatively, the mental state of a graduate student during the writing of a dissertation.
cohort a large herd of mammals which is rounded up at regular intervals and corralled into the waiting room of a hospital or clinic.
control group in experimental animals, the lucky ones; in human trials, the group that suffers all the poking and prodding of clinicians, gets a placebo, and is paid in Monopoly money.
Good Science Writing 