gooey-duck, noun

WHAT IS IT? A species of giant, burrowing clam native to the Pacific Northwest. The creature’s name comes from the Nisqually and Lushootseed word gʷídəq, or “dig deep.” They live to be more than 150 years old.

KNOWN FOR… Its slightly crunchy, sweet-tasting flesh and looking rather, um, phallic. 🍆 Eater describes the delectable clam’s looks as “something in between a prehistoric bottom-feeder and Jabba the Hutt’s infant grandchild.”

FUN FACT: The geoduck is The Evergreen State College’s school mascot. His name is Speedy.

USAGE: “OMG why do you have nudes on your phone?!”

“Dude, chill. That’s just from when I went digging for geoducks.”

Know of a Seattleism that we should include in our new glossary? Hit reply or email us at [email protected]. We’ll be sharing out the Seattleiest terms we can find over the next several months.

A taxing subject. 88 percent of likely Seattle voters see our city’s homelessness crisis as an “extremely” or “very” serious problem. That’s according to a poll of 800 people that a firm called FM3 Research led in March, about two months before that controversial head tax was approved. Another key finding: Voters aren’t as willing to tax themselves to address homelessness as they were nearly two years ago. And then there’s this: Eighty-three percent of people polled said they were dissatisfied with how the Seattle City Council had tackled homelessness and 63 percent think the Seattle City Council already has enough tax dollars and “can solve the problem with more effective spending.” Crosscut reporter David Kroman’s take on these findings? “If I’m a city council member hoping to get more funding for homelessness, I’m a little worried,” he tweeted. 😰 (Crosscut)

Speaking of taxes… Two groups supporting Seattle’s head tax are alleging that the campaign that wants it repealed is misleading voters to put the head tax on the November ballot. The head tax, which passed unanimously through city council and was signed by Mayor Jenny Durkan last month, would cost $275 per employee to businesses grossing at least $20 million annually when it takes effect next year. The “No Tax on Jobs” campaign needs 17,000 signatures to put a repeal of the tax on the ballot, and the two pro-head tax groups — Working Washington and Socialist Alternative — recorded videos of fishy exchanges they heard between signature collectors, which you can watch here and here. (The Stranger)

Leveling the playing field. Seattle’s big population boom has a new side effect: pushing immigrant and non-white soccer teams off the field. “In this new economy, poorer and non-white players have been pushed away from one of the world’s most democratic sports,” The Guardian reports. “Parks are overcrowded, and immigrant players who come to play pick-up games are chased off pitches by well-funded leagues who pay to practise there.” When Rainier Beach resident Exequiel Soltero tried to reserve a field for his team, a rental scheduler turned down his request. Exequiel headed to the field at the time he requested anyway and watched for an hour as it sat empty. To get a reservation, the rental coordinator took down his and his teammates’ addresses and made them pay upfront. “If you were a white team they wouldn’t ask you for addresses,” he says. “I don’t think the white teams have to pay upfront.”

A couple ways Seattle recreation officials are trying to change this: by leasing big soccer clubs fewer hours on city fields and instead giving those hours to leagues in underserved neighborhoods. (The Guardian)

Congrats, class of 2018! Graduation season is upon us, folks. First up for our city’s college commencement ceremonies is the University of Washington, which celebrates its grads tomorrow. Fun fact: UW’s first graduate was Clara McCarthy, who was the only one of her 17 classmates to graduate (!). She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1876 and went on to become a teacher and the first woman to be elected to public office in Pierce County. 🎓(HistoryLink)

HAVE A DELICIOUS WEEKEND!

Need some inspiration for satisfying your ice cream fix? The Infatuation Seattle has an awesome “power ranking” of the city’s best ice cream spots. Think of flavors like Sweet Bumpas’ banana peanut butter “monkey butt,” Sugar Plum’s vegan salted espresso hemp, and matcha soft-serve at the Eastside’s Matcha Man Ice Cream pop-up. 🍦

Oh, and if you do go, cone you be sure to snap a photo and tag #theevergrey on Instagram? 😉

Stay sweet, y’all. — The Evergrey