How do you pronounce the word macabre, meaning “morbid” or “gruesome”? The word may go back to the ancient Book of Maccabees, commemorated in medieval France with the danse de Macabré, often depicted in art as skeletons leading every type of person, from kings to peasants, to their death. This is part of a complete episode.
An 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect from southeastern England gives a colorful glimpse of life there in those days. A beever is “an 11 o’clock luncheon.” In parts of Sussex, a ladybug is variously known as a Bishop Barnaby, a fly-golding, or...
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, listener says when he was growing up, his family used the word schmutz as a verb. For example, when one parent reminded the other to apply sunscreen to the youngsters, they might say Make sure you schmutz the kids...
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