I feel a little bit like Judge Chamberlain Haller (played by the late, great Fred Gwynne) asking Vinny Gambini (what's not to like about Joe Pesci as a lawyer), "What's a yoot?" in *My Cousin Vinny*. What's a "graf"? Can't find any definition online other than "a German count, equivalent to an earl." That doesn't make sense in context.

I know all you Slate bloggers are all just too cool for school, but if your going to use words that haven't even made it into online dictionaries, then at least have the courtesy to link the word to something that gives a definition for us old foggies that use standard English. Couple days ago I to grapple with "frenemies" and now "graf." Reading Slate is becoming like reading "A Clockwork Orange." As I told my teacher in high school, "I'll wait for the English translation to come out."

Worse, this word has to come in a completely wrong, off-the-wall item. Obama's speech was wonderful and exactly what the occasion needed.

Good question - and what, pray tell, is a "thiose"?

If it really is a typo for "those", it still doesn't make much sense. Like the rest of the column.

graf = paragraph.

Come on, you guys sound older than McCain. Are you really having this much trouble with these here 'internets?'

"Graf" is journalist-ese for "paragraph." It is jargon and thus should only be used among insiders.

Kaus's use of it here is a ploy. He wants readers to feel as if he considers them peers, capable of understanding the jargon and thus capable of understanding his wisdom.

Its not a ploy if someone who doesn't work in the field is able to figure it out. A bloggers audience tends to pick up on the writers handles much like radio operators could identify morse code authors by their quirks.

Try texting more, the language breaks down pretty naturally when looking for shortcuts. Or you could just talk to a court stenographer.

"Insider" wht r u so ncqur bout?

Of course, it's a ploy. This is not, by the way, a bad word.

Kaus is using journalism-ese, the same way Weather Channel folks use meteorologist-ese. You read, you "figure it out," you use the term yourself, and you become an insider, vested in their worldview.

I have absolutely no idea what texting or court stenography--activities that require brevity--have to do with rhetorical decisions and analyses thereof.

Thank you all for the explanation.

I don't have a problem with someone using an unfamiliar term or jargon specific to a profession. However, as a courtesy to his more general audience, I think making the word a link to a definition would be polite and good writing. A search on a definition of the term did not readily provide a useful result.