Language of Showbiz

The show business trade paper Variety turns 100 this year, and it continues to vex and amuse its readers with a language all its own. In this slanguage, as Variety staffers have dubbed it, media giant Disney is known as the Mouse, a reference to its mascot, Mickey Mouse. And a buzz can give a movie legs -- that is, if the right people are talking about a film, so it keeps drawing crowds. Reporter Gloria Hillard, filling in this week for our Wordmasters, has more: