A word used when the actual name of the object in question will not come to mind. Very versatile but often very vague. It is derived from the phrase "what-you-may-call-it" which can be found in T. H. White's The Once and Future King.
Claire- "Hey, Adam, hand me the- the- you know, the whachamacallit."
A Shackteau is a humble, weather-beaten, structurally questionable shelter located in a spectacular or highly coveted place—Wales, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Crested Butte, coastal Maine, the Alps—where the building itself may be worth almost nothing, but the dirt, view, access, and mythology make it absurdly valuable.
In use:
Shackteâu - We thought it was an abandoned shed until the realtor called it a rare alpine Shackteâu with unobstructed views and listed it for $2 million.