Word Watch

By Sidney Urquhart

Every election brings out its own peculiar jargon. Here's a sampling from the 1992 campaign lexicon:

NARROWCASTING: Targeting a particular group or constituency. Not Bush and Baker fly-fishing in Wyoming.

SPINLOCK: Total bewilderment at an unexpected development, as in how to react when Ross Perot drops out of the race.

DEFINING MOMENT: A phrase few pundits have left unused this year.

BLOW-DRIED: Think Clinton. Think Yuppie. Fortysomething. Boomer.

SLEAZE: Any subject a candidate does not wish to discuss.

BIMBO ERUPTION: See sleaze.