halo car n. an automobile model that lends prestige or attractiveness to the brands and other models of its manufacturer. Editorial Note: This use of halo is derived from halo effect, a tendency of a favorable trait or product to lend credibility or good will to other traits or products from the same source, which dates to at least as early as 1938. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Silas, a 10th-grader in Madison, Wisconsin, is working on his own conlang, or constructed language. He wonders how and why the French uvular R sound, as in the French word rouge, came about, as opposed to the rolled Spanish R in carro. As Trask’s...
Kathy from Wichita, Kansas, says her mother was a practical joker who’d laugh off her pranks by saying That’s just the kind of hairpin I am, which means “That’s just the way I am.” The phrase goes back at least to 1874. In his 1889 volume...