tot lot
n.— «The response of the community included the Lions Club, which was looking for a service project and decided there was a need for an imaginative and safe children’s playground. It plans to build a “tot lot” behind the center, near its basketball court, baseball diamond and jogging area.» —“A Community Effort Pays Off” by Nancy Arum in Yorktown Heights New York Times July 12, 1982. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A caller wonders if she’s being hypersensitive about the way her boss addresses her in emails. Can the use of an employee’s first name ever reflect a power differential? And: a community choir director wants a term for “the act of...
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...