avocado toast
1
5.8
- noun
- /əˈvɑːkɑːdoʊ toʊst/
- Literature
:
gasto innecesario
- Many articles discuss how avocado toast symbolizes the frivolous spending habits of millennials.
They're spiraling into debt, and they love avocado toast, which in Russia is potato.
- They're spiraling into debt, and they love avocado toast, which in Russia is potato.
Examples
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The debate about housing affordability often includes comments about avocado toast and similar expenses.
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They're spiraling into debt, and they love avocado toast, which in Russia is potato.
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Critics often blame avocado toast for the high cost of living among young adults.
How Responsible
- Specialized
35
3.6
8
3.7
- Literature
1
5.8
600
2.4
104
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the literal sense (a slice of toast with avocado) is transparently built from 'avocado' + 'toast', the cited meaning is a metonymic, socio-cultural reference to discretionary spending and politically framed critiques of young adults. That figurative, discourse-specific sense is not predictable from the constituents and requires cultural knowledge and exposure, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not infer it.
Etymology
Avocado toast became a symbol in news stories when writers and politicians pointed at young people buying the simple dish of mashed avocado on toast and blamed those habits for money problems. So the phrase is often used to mean 'small, everyday purchases' or to blame youth spending for bigger money issues.