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Mikka Bozu

On our Facebook group, listeners are pondering whether there’s a word for buying an object and then using it for a completely different purpose — the treadmill that ends up as a clothes rack, for example. The Japanese expression mikka bozu, or “three-day priest,” denotes a somewhat similar phenomenon — people who throw themselves into the discipline of becoming a priest, only to find their enthusiasm turns out to last just hours, not the many years required to become proficient. This is part of a complete episode.

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