Emily in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is married to a native Dutch speaker, who points out that they buy groceries in a store, so why doesn’t grocery denote just one of those items and not the store where they’re sold? Originally, the French word grosserie referred to “wholesale goods”; it’s a relative of English gross, meaning “large” or “a large quantity.” French grosserie eventually led to English grocer, “the seller of those goods.” Later, grocery was applied the profession of selling such items. Three centuries later, grocery came to refer to the store itself, and in the early 20th century, people began using the word groceries to refer to the items being sold from a grocery. The word groceries is what’s called a plurale tantem, which refers to words that exist mainly in the plural form, such as scissors, pants, and eyeglasses. This is part of a complete episode.
Knitters are creating temperature blankets, also known as weather blankets, by assigning colors to daily temperatures and stitching them into finished pieces. Makers involved in The Tempestry Project extend the practice by representing the weather...
Nikki in Charlotte, North Carolina, shares the story of a man who casually told passersby You dropped your pocket, prompting them to check for something that wasn’t there in the first place. That silly saying reminds her of playing pool and trying...
