China syndrome refers to a hypothetical sequence of events in which meltdown at an out-of-control nuclear reactor can cause the molten core to go right through the Earth. The origin of this expression can be traced to the 1970s and the highly imaginative idea of a US nuclear meltdown reaching through the Earth to China on the other side.

With fresh developments in the world and its economy, today China syndrome refers to the influence of the huge and growing Chinese economy in the global marketplace. Yet another new connotation to this expression is also a figurative one: "You must learn to enforce breaks in your thought, or else risk a China syndrome of the mind — thoughts breeding thoughts breeding energy and heat". (Joe Heffron, Old Way in Knot magazine, May 20, 2004. Boulder, Colorado).

An Indian summer has nothing to do with India; it came into being when it was noticed that areas inhabited by the American Indians were warm. So, any period of unusually warm weather in autumn or winter came to be called an Indian summer. Recently, it has also been used for a pleasant or fruitful period towards the end of any session or activity.

Any occasion on which enjoyment or profit is derived from the discomfort or suffering of other people is called a Roman holiday, as witnessed whenever a criminal is hanged. Its origin lies in the gladiatorial contests of the Romans and it reached English through Lord Byron’s use of it in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage:

(Canto IV Stanza 141)

The frantic frenzy of fast New York life has created the term New York minute, a very short period of time, just an instant. In a lighter vein, a New York minute is defined as the interval between the change of the Red traffic light to Green and the honking of the horn of the car behind you.

This feature was published on October 9, 2004