Definition: > noun. The bizarre ritualistic question (“Smoking or Non-Smoking?”) posed by every hostess at every mid-tier restaurant chain before 2005. The sound of societal acceptance of lung cancer as an appetizer. Often accompanied by the visual of a hazy, yellowed partition separating families from the nicotine addicts. A relic of a time when public air was considered communal property, even if it tasted like an ashtray. > Example: “Took my Gen Z niece out. She nearly choked when I told her they used to ask the Smoking Section Query. Thought I was messing with her. Enjoy your clean air, kid.”