In 2006, the International Astronomical Union kicked Pluto off its planetary pedestal. In his delightful book How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming (Bookshop|Amazon) astronomer Mike Brown recounts the events leading up to the demotion of that celestial body and the controversy over the definition of the word planet. The resulting change in nomenclature was such big news worldwide that, in a run-off against the term climate canary, the American Dialect Society voted the neologism plutoed its 2006 “Word of the Year.” The word planet derives from the Greek word planētēs (πλανήτης) which means “wanderer.” 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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