A man who grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, says that when he and his friends were playing a game of tag and wanted to take a break they would call “Pax!” This Latin word for peace used in this way is what’s called a truce term. Other non-obvious examples...
dose n.— «Then on Tuesday, at one of the many literary events I attend, I saw Eva, a lass we had a short ‘dose’ as they call them—as if women are innocuous inoculations—when I was 25 years old, fresh from college, and she was a stroke of the...
gun time n.— «A similar issue arose at the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, when Wesley Korir of Kenya finished fourth, despite starting five minutes after the elite runners. Like O’Connell, his time was clear because of the electronic timing chips...
third culture kid n.— «Sonia wants to return to Kenya sometime—”I mean, it’s my home”—but doesn’t know when. As a Kenyan-Indian who moved to Singapore when she was six and lived there for 14 years before attending college in the U.S., she’s used to...
climate canary n.— «They are dubbed the “climate canaries”—the people destined to become the first victims of world climate change. And as government ministers sit down in Nairobi at this weekend’s United Nations Climate Conference, the people most...
Nairobbery n. Nairobi, Kenya. Editorial Note: So-named because of its high crime rate. Etymological Note: Nairobi + robbery (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
