The word of the week: wato

November 22, 2016 at 5:13PM

Definition: What are the odds? (Merriam-Webster Online)

Sample usage: "Two meteors are heading for Earth at the same time, each capable of extinguishing all life? Wato!"

Popularity: If your life is so full of coincidences that you need to excise two syllables to express your amazement, perhaps wato works. But you're likely to get "What?" when you say it, and when you try to explain by using the entire phrase, the person will say "What?" again. Before you know it, you're trapped in a bad "Who's on first" routine. Or, as we call it, wof.

JAMES LILEKS

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