Join two wayward radio hosts on A Way With Words, the call-in radio show about writing, speaking, slang, old sayings, and more.
Catchword for “al-box”
Catchword: al-box
Filed Under: , ,
Part of Speech: n.
Quotation: Seventy-eight fully grown men were fit in two police cars with the capacity of each only 10. Many Egyptian university students must know those cars quite well—they are referred to in Egypt by an English word borrowed into Arabic specifically for this usage: “al-box.”
Article or Document Title:
“Real life can be even stranger than fiction” (URL)
Author:
Tamim al-Barghouti
Article, Document, Publication, Web Site:
Daily Star
Publishing Location:
Lebanon
Date of Publication:
Sept. 14, 2004
This catchword has yet to be researched.
Posted 14 Sep 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend
Comments:
The word al-Box refers to any box.  If it didn’t, how would it make sense to non-English speaking Egyptians?
by andrew 12 Jun 06, 0233 GMT

Leave a comment, which must be approved by the moderator before it will appear. Courtesy matters!

Keep in mind that we're interested in terms that are not well-covered in mainstream dictionaries, or not covered at all. A mass of unexamined Google hits counts for nothing, but an early use of the term you've found in a book or periodical is very useful. A term does not have to be new to be recorded here, it merely needs to be worthy of more attention.
Name (mandatory):

Email (mandatory):

Location (optional):

Your Web Site (optional):

Remember my personal information

Notify me, by email, of follow-up comments.

Recent Catchwords
mill and fill n. (7/3)
snake run n. (7/2)
hurricane amnesia n. (7/2)
dollar-a-year man n. (7/2)
tranny n. (7/1)
secular adj. (6/30)
commuter trip n. (6/30)
wendy v. (6/30)
double-dekker n. (6/30)
gas-sipper n. (6/29)
nuke the fridge v. phr. (6/29)
mannyhose n. (6/29)
run one’s pockets v. phr. (6/29)
gay-lister n. (6/29)
cross-shopping n. (6/29)
weird stacking n. (6/29)
block busting n. (6/27)
beek n. (6/27)
sweatbox n. (6/26)
bump-out n. (6/26)
 More catchwords...
Lexicographer's Rules
A hearty endorsement of shout quotes: scare quotes used for emphasis (5/14)
How to buy a dictionary (4/29)
Jinx and padiddle: games we play (4/16)
Saying it wrong on purpose (4/1)
Nicknames from the Underground: Busharraf, Chillary, and Killadelphia (3/19)
New slang unpacked (3/4)
UPDATED: Crosswords in Black and White (3/3)
Find me in American Way Magazine (3/3)
Recent catchwords: read-alike, violin hickey, throw a Porsche at someone, Q-tip cruise, 1-800 car (2/28)
The Tell-All of the Century: Snitching Slang (2/19)
 More blog entries...
Find A Word  »
 A   B   C   D   E 
 F   G   H   I   J 
 K   L   M   N   O 
 P   Q   R   S   T 
 U   V   W   X   Y 
 Z   0-9 
Search
Search Site

Google Site Search
Recent searches:
New Comments
Debra Ellick commented on hurricane amnesia (7/3)
tina commented on tranny (7/3)
Grant Barrett commented on tranny (7/3)
Tina commented on tranny (7/2)
Ben Zimmer commented on secular (7/1)
Alice Macpherson commented on sad (7/1)
Kerri-ann commented on candy flipping (7/1)
Rich Overton commented on smitty (6/30)
Prozacville.co.uk commented on Ja well no fine (6/30)
jim commented on robotripping (6/30)
JIm commented on robotripping (6/29)
Charles Miller commented on robotripping (6/29)
JIM commented on robotripping (6/28)
Ben Zimmer commented on block busting (6/28)
Larisa Gall commented on pencil plane (6/26)
Subscribe to the RSS feed. • Subscribe to the mailing list. • Browse the archive. • Add to Technorati Favorites. • © 1999-2008 by Grant Barrett, Double-Tongued Dictionary, New York City.