schmutzdecke
n.— «Most of this gelatinous growth and of the deposited sediment collects in the top half-inch or so of the bed, and combined form what the Germans call schmutzdecke, which term has been adopted in this country. This schmutzdecke acts as a finer straining medium for removing bacteria and other suspended matters.» —by Amory Prescott Folwell Water-supply Engineering: The Designing and Constructing of Water-supply Systems (New York) , 1917. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teachers: When doing a guided meditation, you may hear...
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...