The other day I struggled to understand a little newspaper article that was all about quangos. Yes, quangos. I read the item carefully, looking for a definition but never found one. Was this some strange sort of fruit, perhaps a cross between a kumquat and a mango? But if so, then why would the British government be promising the end to so many fruit hybrids? There was nobody around to ask, but then I remembered my copy of "Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang," given me by a kind English expat back in Chicago who foresaw this kind of confusion.
I quickly discovered that a quango (or QUANGO) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization. Kinda like our NGOs, I guess. According to Jonathan Bernstein, author of "Knickers in a Twist," quangos, "generally have titles that suggest they have something to do with housing or transport or health but, in fact, their main function is to perpetuate bureaucracy. The cynical may suggest that these committees and agencies exist solely to reward close but otherwise unemployable associates of the political party in power."
