Daily Variety slanguage

Variety has been around for a long time, as a weekly since 1905 and the Daily Variety since 1933. Over the years, Variety has covered all facets of the entertainment business. It's also developed or concretized many of the 'slang' phrases used in Hwood about movies, TV, music, production, etc. You can see their Slanguage Dictionary here. As a taste of what to expect, here is one example per letter of the alphabet A-Z (except for X):

ankle -- A classic (and enduring) Variety term meaning to quit or be dismissed from a job, without necessarily specifying which; instead, it suggests walking; "Alan Smithee has ankled his post as production prexy at U."

biopic -- A Variety coinage meaning biographical film; " 'Coal Miner's Daughter,' about Loretta Lynn, is one of the most successful biopics ever produced."

coin -- money, financing; "Coin for the production was raised through pre-sales to foreign territories."

distrib -- distributor; "Paramount is the distrib on the project, which will begin lensing in May."

Eye web -- the CBS television network; "The Eye web ranked third place in the most recent Nielsen ratings."

first-look -- a deal wherein a particular studio has the first option on a filmmaker's projects; "Alan Smithee has a first-look deal with Par."

greenlight -- the go-ahead for a film to be made; "The Bruce Willis project was given the greenlight last week."

hype -- manufactured promotional buzz; hyperbole; "The picture did not live up to the hype surrounding its bow."

ink -- to sign a contract; "Alan Smithee inked a deal to produce and star in three pics for U."

jingle -- Industry term: Short phrase of music usually with lyrics used in commercials.

kudocast -- Variety term for an awards show; "The Academy Awards is typically the highest-rated kudocast of the year."

longform, long-form -- TV programming that is longer than an hour in duration; a TV movie or miniseries; "The company specializes in longform production."

mogul -- the head of a major studio or communications company; from the title of the all-powerful emperors of India; "Media moguls Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner have engaged in some heated verbal sparring of late."

nix -- reject, say no to; as in the famous Variety headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix," meaning that audiences in rural areas were not interested in attending films about rural life.

o.t.t. -- over the top; "An o.t.t. performance by newcomer Alan Smithee marred the otherwise riveting film."

percentery (also tenpercentery) -- talent agency; "The director's previous percentery was the William Morris Agency."

Q rating -- ad research rating that gauges how easily a celebrity is recognized -- and how well the celebrity is liked.

reup -- to renew an employment contract; "The exec is not expected to reup when his contract expires in June."

scribbler -- writer; "Neil Simon was a TV scribbler before becoming a playwright." Also "scribe."

topline -- to star; to be billed above the title of a show or film; "Julia Roberts will topline the director's next pic."

unspool -- to screen a film; "More than 30 films are set to unspool at the upcoming festival."

VOD -- video on demand; "Home Shopping Network has been developing a VOD division that will allow customers to order specific programming."

whammo -- a sensation (bigger than boffo); " 'Men in Black' has done whammo biz internationally." (See also, boffo, socko)

yawner -- a boring show; "Despite a stellar cast, the play is a yawner and doesn't look to have a long run."

zitcom -- a television comedy aimed at teenagers.

That headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix" is indicative of the oftentimes cheeky, even snarky tone evident in Variety. I remember a film review once where the critic remarked about an actor's performance, "She exhibited the range of emotion from A to B." In reviewing the movie Entrapment (1999), the trade paper said of co-star Catherine Zeta Jones (paraphrased), "The movie features Ms. Jones' derriere so many times, that part of her anatomy deserves its own film credit."

Do you read the Daily Variety? Hollywood Reporter? If not, what are your major sources of information about Hwood and the movie business?