The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World (Bookshop|Amazon) by Patrik Svensson, translated by Agnes Broome won Sweden’s highest literary prize. Although Svensson himself has described this volume as a “strange and nerdy” book, it’s a fascinating combination of science, folklore, metaphysics, and personal memoir. But don’t go looking for information about electric eels, also known as Electrophorus electricus and knifefish. That’s an entirely different species. This is part of a complete episode.
According to Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American English (Bookshop|Amazon) by Ben Yagoda, the word smarmy, meaning “unctuous” or “ingratiating,” may come from a 19th-century magazine contest, in which readers sent in...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...
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