Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 5:10 a.m.
Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4067.
WEEKEND EDITION December 13 - 14, 2003
THERE'S A new saying making the rounds in some Las Vegas offices when employees fill out their time cards.
It's called wendelling, which means putting in for sick days when you're not really sick.
It's the kind of thing that can make the boss mad enough to fire you -- as in the case of Las Vegas Assemblyman Wendell Williams, who double-dipped the taxpayers by putting in for sick leave at City Hall this spring while he served in the Legislature in Carson City.
I've noticed a number of new terms that have become part of our vocabulary in recent months as we have followed the miscues of some of our Las Vegas notables and witnessed scandal after scandal.
To galardi, for example, means spreading money around town to buy friends in high places, but turning on them to save your own skin the minute you land in trouble. Topless nightclub owners seem to know how to galardi the best.
Maloning is using a topless club owner's cash to schmooze politicians while the FBI secretly watches your every move. Former county commissioners who can't spot an FBI surveillance van are the most adept at this endeavor.
To rizzolo you have to own a strip club where patrons who get too frisky with dancers have unexplained accidents after they leave your joint -- like falling down in the parking lot and breaking their necks. It helps to have a reputed mob figure or two on your payroll to witness these mishaps.
When you're kincaid-chaunceying you're usually facing criminal charges and acting as if you don't have a care in the world. If you also happen to chair the County Commission, it takes an intervention of your friends and colleagues to bring you out of denial.
Anyone looking to regent has to be on the public board that oversees the university system and have no idea how the system works or how to conduct the board's business in public. People who like to regent enjoy making fools of themselves.
If you're ever accused of oscaring on the job, you probably have a big ego, a thirst for gin and a hunger for more power and authority. An oscar thinks the office revolves around him.
To boggs-mcdonald means getting elected to public office but selling out your constituents by taking a lucrative second job with an influential casino company. When you boggs-mcdonald, you duck phone calls from anyone wanting to know why you've chosen to be loyal to special interests over the voters.
Don't confuse this kind of conduct with that of an elected official who is good at macking, the art of selling out to anyone who will give you money. When you're macking you're only loyal to your pocketbook.
Beersing has nothing to do with drinking beer. It's the practice of picking on the downtrodden, such as children living in poverty, and criticizing casino workers for their lack of education while urging your fellow citizens to fight for less taxes and duck their social responsibilities. Beersing most commonly occurs among conservative Republican assemblymen who don't have a conscience.
To harris means to dress up as a lumberjack and try to recall from office a popular governor who is guiding the state through tough fiscal times because you disagree with his political philosophy -- not because he has done anything wrong. Generally, political buffoons starving for public attention like to harris.
Fremonting is the act of banning free speech at a publicly funded pedestrian mall. This usually occurs with the help of city officials who think protecting casino profits is more important than our First Amendment rights.
And finally, with the second "trial of the century" coming up, to binion is back in vogue. It's a sure sign that you have no life and are only interested in one thing -- solving the mystery that led to Ted Binion's death five years ago.
Fortunately, I don't know anyone like that.
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