Texas barrier
n.— «With the addition of bike paths and sidewalks, and no design refinements to the cookie-cutter railing (a “Texas barrier,” in highway engineers’ parlance), the new bridge is basically still just a 50-foot-wide swath of concrete.» —“Bland new bridge goes nowhere, designwise” by Whitney Gold Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisc.) Feb. 12, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...