PORTLAND GLOSSARY

Word on the Street: Pyrophrenic

What Portlanders are saying—or should be.

July 1, 2013 Published in the July 2013 issue of Portland Monthly

Pyrophrenic  pie-ro-frenik  (n or adj) 

A person simultaneously afflicted with feelings of stern disapproval for illegal fireworks and a burning, childlike desire to detonate some. 

In a sentence:  Person 1: “Ugh, I can’t stand it when our neighbors set off bottle rockets over our house. What if one lands on our roof and sets it on fire? Wait—that one was cool! Maybe I should go over to help them!” Person 2: “You’re a total pyrophrenic.” See also:  Sparkler sorrow; TNTeetotaler

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