Collyer n. a home excessively packed with junk, trash, or belongings. Also Collyer mansion, Collyer house, Collyer apartment. Editorial Note: It is said that on the American West coast a similar term is Habitrail house. Etymological Note: After the Collyer brothers, who were discovered dead in their junk-packed apartment at 2078 Fifth Avenue and 128th Street, March 21, 1947. The two were hermits for decades. Homer was blind and bed-ridden; Langley took care of him. A booby-trap set for intruders trapped and eventually killed Langley; without care, Homer starved to death in his bed. About 140 tons of debris were removed from their home, including a Model T and at least 10 pianos. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life on a space station, with its mix of tedious tasks and jaw-dropping views. And: a musician who rode the rails in his youth shares the slang he...
Patrick in New York City is curious about the term ride or die, which describes a friend, fan, or romantic partner who is devoted to the end. The expression shows up in the mid-1990s in hip hop and the work of Tupac Shakur and The Lox, and often...
so here’s ow i found out about those collyer boys-a 1957 mad magazine article ‘bitter homes and gardens’-fake article of a man who removed that ‘wasteful second bathroom’-the ‘after’ picture shows him proudly in his new storage closet full of junk-says he was inspired by room in collier(sic)mansion…