Today’s One Big Happy:
permanent record, with the most common, literal sense of permanent — well, most common for adult users, but things are likely to be different for kids like Ruthie.
[NOAD2] adjective lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely: a permanent ban on the dumping of radioactive waste at sea | damage was not thought to be permanent | some temporary workers did not want a permanent job.
Kids are more likely to come across specializations of this sense: in permanent marker, in particular, but depending on the child’s experience, possibly also in permanent wave (a hairdo that is, alas, not actually permanent, but only long-lasting) — nouned by truncation to permanent (Ruthie’s use). (This noun can then be clipped, to perm.)
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