obs
n.— «For the vast majority of visitors, particularly of the ornithological persuasion, the destination of choice is the Fair Isle Bird Observatory. As well as being a centre for the collection of scientific data on bird migration and breeding, the observatory is also a guesthouse, and a significant contributor to the island’s economy. “The obs,” as it is known to both islanders and visitors, is home year-round to a warden and administrator.» —“Fair Isle: At the obs” by Malachy Tallack New Statesman (United Kingdom) Oct. 1, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words (Bookshop|Amazon), British journalist Sophia Smith-Galer writes about linguicide, the erasure or suppression of a language. This loss may be brutally overt—the result of...
Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish similar shades and tints of colors such as red, yellow...