wah-wah
n.— «Going into Wah-Wah, the pungent and poignant memoir from actor Richard E. Grant about coming of age in colonial Swaziland, you might assume that the title is a Bantu word. It’s of American coinage and refers to the huffy prattle (pip-pip!) Brits utter when they don’t want to say anything. It also refers to the prattlers themselves. Set in the tiny monarchy, an atoll surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique, Swaziland circa 1965 is awash in wah-wahs, many who cannot maintain propriety and family in this land of ocher hills and perpetual sun.» —“Colonial boy in the vastness of Africa” by Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania) May 26, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...