The director of Common Voices Chorus, a women’s choir in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, seeks a word to denote what her group does when they get together to sing simply for the joy of singing and community-building, rather than working toward the goal of performing for an audience in the future. It’s not exactly a rehearsal, so what should they call it? Some words in English have melodious roots in ancient languages that aren’t obvious, but don’t quite fit the bill either. Symphony comes from Greek words that mean “voices together” and Latin cantare, “to sing,” gave rise to English enchantment, and accent, which refers to “song added to speech.” 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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