vernac
adj.— «There is the image, that to be successful, you have to speak English, wear a certain kind of clothes, frequent certain kind of places.” Says 14-year-old Rachna: “I can’t think of mixing with the vernac types. What do we talk about. And how?”» —“What are Ken and Barbie watching tonight?” Economic Times (India) Dec. 7, 1997. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the languages of Asia. Barely scratching the surface, we have from Japan skosh, tycoon, tsunami, origami, yen, kimono, futon, and karaoke. From Chinese comes yen, kowtow, gung ho, and...
Cat hair may be something you brush off, but cat hair is also a slang term that means “money.” In the same way, cat beer isn’t alcoholic — some people use cat beer as a joking term for “milk.” And imagine walking on a...