informal housing
n.— «“So with a shortfall as big as that, is it any surprise that the prices have sky-rocketed and informal housing has grown beyond control?” he asks. Informal housing is estate agents’ parlance for slums, in which more than 60% of the city’s 18 million people live.» —“Mumbai houses priced out of market” by Monica Chadha in Mumbai, India BBC News Nov. 11, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the languages of Asia. Barely scratching the surface, we have from Japan skosh, tycoon, tsunami, origami, yen, kimono, futon, and karaoke. From Chinese comes yen, kowtow, gung ho, and...
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...