turk
v.— «Yet the debate has taken on racist and xenophobic undertones in Austria, where local slang is peppered with disparaging expressions: If something’s been “Turked,” it’s been faked or swindled, and “Turkish luggage” is a crumpled grocery sack.» —“Many in Europe turning up their noses at Turkey” by William J. Kole Houston Chronicle (Texas) Oct. 2, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
On a busy day in the emergency room, Alisa of Dallas, Texas, told an efficient colleague that she was really humming, meaning it as a compliment. Her colleague took offense, maintaining that humming meant “smelly.” Since the 18th...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...