urban tumbleweed
n.— «Word Fugitives sought an American equivalent for the Irish term witches’ knickers, which refers to “disposable plastic bags caught in trees.”…People on both coasts and in between submitted urban tumbleweed.» —“Word Fugitives” by Barbara Wallraff The Atlantic July-Aug., 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Rowan in Ottawa, Ontario, says her Irish mom used a puzzling word to indicate a sort of restless discontent not caused by anything in particular. It may be neamhchinnte, which means “uncertain” or “indecisive.” This is part...