haltura
n.— «Israelis call it “haltura,” slang for a cross between make-do ingenuity, shoddy amateurism and moonlighting, with a dash of disdain for the letter of the law thrown in.» —“Culture of Improvisation Buoys, Bogs Down Israelis” by Mark Heinrich in Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters June 27, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Barbara Kingsolver’s book Demon Copperhead is a retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield set in today’s Appalachia. Martha shares memories of a long-ago visit to Kingsolver’s family farm in Virginia, where they...
When Marilyn from Boston, Massachusetts, used the expression Them’s the berries! with neighbors in her hometown of nearby Arlington, Massachusetts, she was surprised they were unfamiliar with it. The phrase means something like “That’s...