Definition

An ingressive clicking sound made by coarticulating a velar or uvular closure—the noise that dolphins use to communicate and that linguists use to confuse everyone else. It's a sound, but make it linguistic.

Example Usage

The phonetician demonstrated the klik consonant used in Xhosa, and half the audience couldn't reproduce it.

Source: Linguistics and phonetics terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

to save your sinking Titanic

A dramatic metaphor for desperately attempting to salvage a catastrophically failing academic semester through last-minute heroics. Like rearranging deck chairs on the actual Titanic, these efforts often involve cramming, begging professors for extra credit, and questioning every life choice that led to this moment. Spoiler alert: sometimes the ship just goes down anyway.

🎓 Education / Academia
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genera

The taxonomic rank that sits awkwardly between family and species, making biologists feel fancy when they pluralize 'genus' correctly. Think of it as nature's filing system where all the cousins hang out together before getting sorted into their individual species cubicles. Also occasionally used by mathematicians to describe graph complexity, because apparently one scientific usage wasn't enough.

🎓 Education / Academia
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terminal degree

The highest degree available in a field, usually a PhD or professional doctorate. Called 'terminal' because it's the end of the formal education line, though cynics note it often feels terminal in other ways.

🎓 Education / Academia
Beginner

Hail Mary pass

A student's desperate, last-minute attempt to salvage a failing grade through extra credit, elaborate excuses, or emotional appeals after ignoring the course all semester. Success rates mirror the football play's namesake—unlikely but occasionally miraculous.

🎓 Education / Academia
Intermediate

Holistic Education

An approach to education that nurtures the whole student -- mind, body, and spirit -- mostly because the mind alone wasn't generating enough tuition revenue. It sounds spiritual because it requires a leap of faith to believe it works.

🎓 Education / Academia
Beginner

helicopter parent

An overprotective parent who hovers over their college-aged child's academic life, often contacting professors directly about grades and assignments despite their student being a legal adult. They undermine student independence and create awkward administrative situations.

🎓 Education / Academia

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