Former name of the Kansas Turnpike. In the 1970s the road was in terrible shape, and many people called it the Kansas Turdpike. I refined the word into the Kansas Turdpile. Several years later, the toll road bonds from the early 1950s were paid off, but they left the tolls on, so there were vast amounts of money for repairs. Now they are anal about repairing even the tiniest glitch, and we no longer call it the Turdpile, although I accidentally forget sometimes.
When the Kansas Turdpile opened in 1956 (it wasn't a turdpile yet, as described above), and for several years afterward, the speed limit was 80. At the same time the regular interstates in Kansas, which were vastly better designed expressways, had a speed limit of 75. Today both are 70.
A sunburn or suntan focused on the left arm. It is caused by the left side of the body being the only half that gets exposed to sunlight while driving. Presumably, it would be located on the right side of the body in countries where they drive on the left side of the road.
British slang for a scientist or technical expert, esp . when the speaker is not certain of the expert’s specific field of study. Not necessarily derogatory, but typically used by persons without a technical background. In the US, the equivalent would be “egghead”, “squint”, or “geek.”
Origin of the word is unknown. Started sometime in World War 2. Given the typical evolution of British slang, could easily have started because what these experts did was confusing or “baffling” to the common person.
When you have to pee in a movie but don’t want to miss anything, and must do the following mental equation: will the amount I have to pee cause enough discomfort to diminish my attention capacity for the remainder of the movie to an extent which is greater than the amount of the movie I would miss by making a mad dash to the restroom.
I saw Satantango last night, wonderful film but by the 5th hour I had to start doing peecalculus.