Obama
n.— «America’s 2008 presidential election loomed large over Ghana’s poll. Supporters of the two main parties talked of their dreams for an “Obama”—here meaning a first-round win—and analysts hoped that the loser would follow Sen. John McCain’s example by conceding quickly and graciously. This Mr. Akufo-Addo did.» —“Ghana’s new president: Africa’s symbol of a working democracy” by Tristan McConnell Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts) Jan. 9, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
There are lots of creative names for the @, also known in English as the at-sign. In Denmark and Sweden, it’s sometimes called the snabel-a, or “elephant trunk.” In Italian, it’s a chiocciola, or “snail. In Greek...
The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be jarring to hear the word swag, but it was already at...