Micropint (for Microprint)

I chose today’s word because it immediately reminded me of the “Bluff the Listener” segment on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me.  If you don’t listen to the show, the three guest panelists all spin a story about a recent news event to a call-in contestant.  However, only one is true, and it’s up to the contestant to spot the fakes. 

Can’t you just hear Peter Sagal saying, “OK, you’ve now heard three amazing stories about these so-called micropints.  First there was Leanne Olson’s report about a group of downtown pubs in London, Ontario, conspiring to routinely short their customers during happy hour.  Next was Deb Kulczak’s account of an entrepreneurial start-up dairy in Arkansas that caters to people who just can’t seem to use up that carton of milk before the expiration date by marketing a size they call ‘just perfect.’  And finally, Carol Reid told us about a cool blog called ‘Typo of the Day for Librarians’ that inspires librarians everywhere to rid their databases of garbage like ‘micropint.’  Which is the real story?”

We think you, our readers, will have no trouble identifying it!  Fortunately, micropint will also be easy.  There is just 1 instance in OhioLINK and 9 in WorldCat.

(Pinocchio, who could tell lies undetected on a radio show.  Illustration by Enrico Mazzanti, from Wikimedia Commons)

Deb Kulczak