toolie

toolie n. in Australia, an older man who preys on or interferes with teenagers celebrating the end of final year secondary school exams. Etymological Note: Perhaps related to tool ‘a stupid person’ by comparison with schoolie ‘a student celebrating the end of final year exams.’ Alternately, it could be influenced by tool v. ‘to drive (an automobile); to cruise (around),’ particularly given the predatory undertones of toolie. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Sleepy Winks (episode #1584)

It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...

Cat Bristle (episode #1665)

How do social media algorithms shape the way we communicate? A new book argues that the competition for clicks is changing the way we speak and write, from the so-called “YouTube accent” to the surprising evolution of the word preppy. Also: A...

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