kiabai

kiabai
 n.— «To my embarrassment I have only now learned the native or in-group term for the wandering salespersons in the Seoul subway system, kiabai, even though I was staying in Korea on a long-term basis at the time when the phenomenon was common. A kiabai salesperson in the Ddanzi Ilbo article linked below explains that word is coined from the English “gear” and “buy”. » —“The kiabai, subway salespeople” by Antti Leppänen Hunjangûi karûch’im Mar. 11, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

It’s All in a Dezzick

The word dezzick is defined in an 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect as “a day’s work.” This is part of a complete episode.

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