mongo
n.— «Other exhibits at the gallery were a 1,500-square-foot transparent map showing the locations of Sanitation Department offices; three piles of televisions on which videotapes of sanitation workers were shown, and an old, department-section office furnished in “mongo,” discarded furniture salvaged by sanitation men.» —“Sanitation Art Showings Brighten Workers’ Image” by James Brooke New York Times Sept. 10, 1984. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Joe from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, asks about pony, the term he and his fellow maritime academy students used to mean “a practice test” or “a copy of a previous test” to help them crib for an exam. Among 19th-century British students, the slang term...
You know the expression fly in the ointment: It’s that glaring typo on an impressive resume or that first scratch on a brand-new car—the one little flaw that spoils it all. This phrase goes all the way back to the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes! And...