Estate cars, station wagons, and a boffin

After posting the estate car question on Monday, I suppose it's time that I answer. I supposed that it was akin to what we Americans call a luxury car, but it turns out that an estate car is an (American) station wagon! In British English, a station wagon refers to Land Rovers or Land Cruisers, or, what is properly known as sports utility vehicles.

Our friends Andrew and Miriam came out for dinner last night, and we learned another new term, with which Miriam referred to Andrew: boffin - which translates somewhere between a nerd and an expert. :-)