To dispel misinformation about rats, you gotta go where they go (as Robert Sullivan did-see "Rats!", page 8) and get your rat facts right. Try using phrases and idioms in your everyday speech-we provide some examples here-that refer to rat characteristics in a positive light. Or at least in a correct-rat-fact light. Your efforts will make the world a less rat-fearing place.

Rat Lingo!

yellowed buckteeth

perfect

Dude! That's totally yellowed buckteeth, man.

cable eating

doing what comes naturally, being spontaneous

I was kind of worried about it, but then, well, I just started cable eating and everything worked out fine!

marked with a greasy coat

famous

Everybody knows that place. It's marked with a greasy coat.

to give the beady eye

to show intense interest

Once they heard about the reappearance of the ivory-billed woodpecker, they gave Brinkley, AK the beady eye.

to smell a person

to have an exceedingly good sense of smell; also, to be very clever at figuring things out

Oh, you don't need to worry about him. He could smell a person from inside a paper bag. Did you hear he got a new job developing evolved computer-generated design solutions?

thiggy

cuddly (A cute-ification of the serious word, thigmophilic, which means touchloving.)

Awww. Look how thiggy.

to take the alley

to do something out of habit

Hey you guys wanna get the triple mushroom fiesta style?-Or just take the alley and get half cheese half pepp?

to go to Alberta

to get ridiculous

Now, now. Let's not go to Alberta.

"Rats!"

an exclamation of general enthusiasm meaning, "Everybody's here! This is great! I'm hungry! Let's eat!"

Hey, look, it's the new issue of Muse! Rats!

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