Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

I've never heard "scissorbill" used to mean someone who's lazy. But touching wood as a defense against your words coming back to haunt you was already old 200 years ago.

It's funny: We think of our selves as an enlightened age, yet even the most hard-headed modern materialist understands that it's best not to brag carelessly as though the desired outcome is a sure thing. Sure, we have trash talk, but only as a joke and thus not as dangerous. But let someone carelessly assert that "at least it can't get any worse" and three people will round on him angrily. We may not talk about it much, but it seems a reluctance to jinx it by confident prediction is still nearly universal.