kiah su n.— «My favorite of these is “kiah su” which is Hokkien for “afraid to lose (out)” (Mandarin pa shu). Someone who is kiah su will go to great lengths to, for example, buy something they don’t really want...
fooding n.— «One of my favorite bits of franglais is the word le fooding. The meaning of this contraction of “food” and “feeling” is slippery, but it relates to a trend of fresh, original cooking that’s taking hold...
skeempers n.— «My father had a favorite term he used to describe anything that pinched or clasped. Consequently, the kitchen tongs and the snaps on my pajamas came to be called skeempers. The Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam Webster...
phones n.— «Mike Rizzo, a DJ at WKTU radio station in New York, said Ivan’s latest is a favorite on his dance music show. “It’s definitely getting great phones,” said Rizzo, using industry slang for requests. “People are...
tools of ignorance n.pl.— «The term “tools of ignorance” is my 2nd favorite baseball colloquialism.» —“Howdy” by White toolsOfIgnorance (Monrovia, California) May 14, 2004. (source: Double...
ge-email v.— «My favorite new set of German words has to do with technology. Who knew that “e-mail” was an inseparable verb, evidenced by the past tense of the verb, “ge-emailed?” But be sure to separate the verb...