Toronto Life: Preville on Politics

Preville on Politics

Posts with category ‘Toronto Lexicon’

The Toronto Lexicon, entry no. 6

Posted on February 12, 2008 by Philip Preville

Snow (sno:) 1. Frozen precipitation in the form of white or translucent hexagonal ice crystals presenting as soft white flakes. 2. A form of precipitation witnessed every year in Toronto, to great astonishment. 3. Precipitation that Torontonians pretend isn’t happening. 4. Potential cause for the implementation of martial law. (See also Cold.)

Continue...


The Toronto Lexicon Returns!

Posted on May 3, 2007 by Philip Preville

expense account (x-p’nss a-kown’t) n. A petty cash allocation for office costs, in the amount of $53,000 per city councillor per annum, which must be spent under threat of criminal prosecution. Continue...


The Toronto Lexicon, Entry No. 4

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Philip Preville

Budget day (bud’jet daë) n 1. The day of the year when a government discloses how it spends its money, following which, for the remainder of the year, it would prefer to change the subject. 2. The day of the year when political talk is cheapest, as media outlets force-feed the airwaves with a relentless supply of information and opinion that far outstrips demand, and that clarifies little about the workings of government. 3. The day of the year when money can fix problems for a generation until next year. 4. A day of the year, just like all the others, in which the City of Toronto is short of funds.

The Toronto Lexicon is an ongoing project by this blog to provide precise and accurate definitions of terms as they are used in local political parlance. Tune in for regular additions.

Continue...


The Toronto Lexicon, Entry No. 3

Posted on March 16, 2007 by Philip Preville

image for

Pothole (pót:høl) n. 1. A locus of severe roadbed decay. 2. A public policy device promoted by City Hall through its refusal to pay for repairs, and intended to increase public transit ridership by making city streets unfit to be traveled alone.

The Toronto Lexicon is an ongoing project by this blog to provide precise and accurate definitions of terms as they are used in local political parlance. Tune in for regular additions.

Image credit: www.bikelanediary.blogspot.com

Continue...


The Toronto Lexicon, Entry No. 2

Posted on March 8, 2007 by Philip Preville

Architecture (r:kí tekt’urr) 1. The art and science of designing buildings and public spaces. 2. A competitive global sport in which teams (“firms”) compete in matches (“design competitions”) for supremacy. In Toronto, architecture is second only to hockey in popularity, counting legions of fans and numerous columnists who specialize in the sport, not to mention the many uninformed columnists and bloggers who cannot resist sharing their opinions on it. Since architecture, like figure skating, is a judged competition, matches rarely have a definitive outcome. Debate among fans can rage long after the project has been built, even when its built form bears little resemblance to its initial winning design. (See also Libeskind, Daniel.)

The Toronto Lexicon is an ongoing project by this blog to provide precise and accurate definitions of terms as they are used in local political parlance. Tune in for regular additions. Continue...


The Toronto Lexicon, Entry No. 1

Posted on March 7, 2007 by Philip Preville

Billion (bíl’-yen) n 1. The cardinal number equal to 10 to the power of 9, most frequently used in reference to money. 2. A lot of money. 3. Not nearly enough money, esp. when it refers to money provided to the city by other levels of government. 4. The minimum amount of money Stephen Harper must spend in order to convince Torontonians he believes in public transit.

The Toronto Lexicon is an ongoing project by this blog to provide precise and accurate definitions of terms as they are used in local political parlance. Tune in for regular additions.

Continue...


Author Bio Pic

Philip Preville

Veteran freelance writer Philip Preville lived much of his life in Montreal and Edmonton before he was lured, like so many Torontonians before him, by the promise of more work and a better living. A National Magazine Award winner and former Canadian Journalism Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, Preville writes Toronto Life’s politics column. He lives with his wife and one-year-old son in Riverdale, just close enough to the Don Valley Parkway that he can hear it when he steps outside his house—but just far enough away that it doesn’t keep him awake at night. On his office wall hangs a 1938–39 press pass belonging to his grandfather, Elias Gannon, who wrote for the Montreal Star.


Preville on Politics RSS Feed

 
New servers