This week: Do you ever find yourself less-than-specific about your age? Listeners share some of their favorite phrases for fudging that number, like: “Oh, I’m 29, plus shipping and handling.” Also in this episode: • Since ancient...
The term creative class has been around for a century, but it was popularized by economist and sociologist Richard Florida and his 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida uses the term to refer to artists, designers, tech producers, and...
platespeak n.— «Is one of Britain’s best-loved dialects, the curious language of personalised number plates, heading for oblivion?…Those who cannot afford the best plates have been forced to use a bit of ingenuity to get close to...
tot lot n.— «Money is scarce and small youngsters are plentiful. By using ingenuity instead of cash, the people at Herlong set up what they call a Tot Lot. It is a playground designed and built almost entirely from scrap material...
yowie n.— «Defence spokesman Major Klaus Boehme says the sniper’s outfit of hessian bags and appropriate camouflage paint evolved from a British idea of about 35 years ago. It had been developed in the mid-1970s when the Army started...
jugaad n. an improvised or jury-rigged solution; inventiveness, ingenuity, cleverness. Etymological Note: < Hindi. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)