parking lot
3
4.4
- noun
- /ˈpɑrkɪŋ lɑt/
- Jargon
:
lista de pendientes
- We originally thought that the parking lot would empty of questions, but instead found that the sticky notes increased in number.
- parking lot questions
- answers to parking lot
Examples
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We chuckled as a student told us, "I thought you put our questions in the parking lot just so we'd forget about them!"
Academic text (2014) -
Following a third-grade classroom, the article explores the use of a 'parking lot' - a repository for the seemingly off-task questions that curious students naturally pose.
Academic text (2014) -
What am I bringing to the parking lot?
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Do you guys wanna discuss this, perhaps out in the parking lot?
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"With a tone of resignation, he noted, "The parking lot has become the place my kids' questions go to die."
Academic text (2014) -
When we've got a couple of extra minutes of time, I pull things from the parking lot and try to answer them.
Academic text (2014) -
In my last visit to Mr. Henderson's classroom, this question remained in the parking lot; students continued to consult the Internet for a sufficient answer.
Academic text (2014) -
During the meeting, we decided to put some topics in the parking lot for discussion later.
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We had several unresolved issues that we placed in the parking lot to address at the next session.
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After the presentation, the team agreed to move some questions to the parking lot for a follow-up meeting.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meeting‑jargon meaning (‘a place/list to put topics aside temporarily’) is motivated by the literal sense of 'parking' (leaving something temporarily) and 'lot' (a place), so there is a clear metaphoric link that a learner could plausibly infer. However, this is a pragmatic, culture‑specific extension used in workplace discourse and functions as jargon, so its exact use is not fully predictable for an average B1 learner without exposure.
Etymology
Parking lot used in meetings comes from the same image: when you park a car you leave it for now and come back later, so teams put ideas in a parking lot to deal with them later. That's why it means 'a list or place where ideas are put aside to be discussed later'.