Definition: An area of chairs (Merriam-Webster online).
Sample usage: "We took out the sofa because the room seemed more like a chairea than a sofarea. We also call the kitchen the dairyarea now because we just love milk!"
Popularity: Office designers love small groups of chairs, scattered around in case people decide to spontaneously collaborate and need to sit immediately. Now you can say, "I'd love to talk, but we're not close to a chairea" and walk away. Briskly.
JAMES LILEKS
Interested in other words or phrases we've dissected? See more at startribune.com/word.
More from Star Tribune
More From Star Tribune
More From Variety
World
Israel medic group founder mired in sex abuse scandal dies
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, a prominent member of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community who founded a volunteer paramedic service before his reputation came crashing down in a series of sexual abuse allegations, has died. He was 62.
Nation
R. Kelly timeline: Shining star to convicted sex trafficker
R. Kelly's musical accomplishments have been accompanied by a long history of allegations that he sexually abused women and children. Now the R&B singer could be put away behind bars for a quarter-century or more when he is sentenced Wednesday in a federal courtroom in New York City.
Business
Gas lines and scuffles: Sri Lanka faces humanitarian crisis
Chamila Nilanthi is tired of all the waiting. The 47-year-old mother of two spent three days lining up to get kerosene in the Sri Lankan town of Gampaha, northeast of the capital Colombo. Two weeks earlier, she spent three days in a queue for cooking gas -- but came home with none.
World
Ukrainian survivor: Only a 'monster' would attack a mall
The mall was nothing extraordinary, but in the middle of a war it was an escape for those in this Ukrainian city who had decided not to flee. Then it exploded in a Russian airstrike.
Nation
R&B hitmaker R. Kelly due in court for sex abuse sentencing
R& B star R. Kelly faces the possibility of a quarter century or more in prison when he is sentenced Wednesday in a federal sex trafficking case in New York.
