Slap, slap, slap, slap– the sound of flip-flops on your feet. These floppy-soled shoes go by other names like zoris and thongs, but a caller wonders why in some parts of the country they’re called go-aheads. This is part of a complete...
zombie economy n.— «Yuen Pau Woo was the economist responsible for Japan in Singapore’s central bank when the Japanese bubble—helped by a run-up in real estate prices that made Park Ave. co-ops look affordable—caused the world’s second...
jacking n.— «In Japanese advertising parlance, a “jacking” occurs when an advertiser purchases a substantial portion of all of the ad space available in a particular medium or within a geographic area (the term...
You’ve just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you’d the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that...
Martha and Grant discuss the rise of the Great Japanese cell-phone novel. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Cell-Phone Novels” Grant, there was a mind-boggling piece in the New York Times recently. It was about the great...
water chestnut n.— «Best of all, “water chestnut,” which, for reasons that elude me, refers to a Japanese male homosexual. Just be careful next time you’re in a Chinese restaurant, you breeders: who knows what you might be ordering...