What’s a word for the act of being so focused on documenting an important event, such as a wedding or an eclipse, that your effort to capture it distracts from experiencing the event itself? The A Way with Words Facebook group has some creative suggestions, including devisolation (rhymes with isolation) and carpe tunnel syndrome. Another word making the rounds is uncaptured, referring to events where people are asked to leave off using their phones and cameras. Intermediation refers to how something mediates between event and observer. Overshadowing occurs when one thing eclipses another, as when a teacher tells a joke in class and the students remember the joke but not the actual lesson. This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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