unk-unk n. especially in engineering, something, such as a problem, that has not been and could not have been imagined or anticipated; an unknown unknown. Editorial Note: The Barnhart Dictionary of New English Since 1963 (Barnhart/Harper & Row, New York, 1973) gives this term as a plural and defines it as “a series of unknowns, especially of inexplicable calamities.” The term is now common as a singular and has spread from the aerospace engineering business to be used in military, government, and corporate environments. The two letter Ks are not silent as they would be in unknown, but are audible and hard, as in the end of drunk. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he might...
For this week’s puzzle, Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been swapping out a single letter within each of three words in a category. Suppose, for example, the category is fruit. What three fruits might you produce by changing just one letter in each of...