kosher = according to prescribed rules

[Benjamin Barrett]

In today's episode of "This American Life" (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/471/the-convert), there is a discussion about a house where four Muslims live, and a comment that it's like a "kosher" frat house because they didn't drink alcohol.

The OED has "Correct, genuine, legitimate," but this seems to mean "in accordance with (Muslim) rules" or probably more specifically, "excluding prohibited activity." I think this use applies to vegetarian food in a vegetarian household, etc.

Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kosher) has "In accordance with standards or usual practice," which is closer, but still seems slightly off.

I did a search on the ADS archives and did not see any mention of this meaning, though I looked only at the bits presented in the search results.

The episode also has "surveil," which the OED covers, but was new to me.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA
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