In architecture and design, an affordance is a part of something that serves a function, like the handle on a cup or the notch in a dictionary where you put your thumb. In language we have affordances, too, such as words that indicate a place for...
We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong...
Gaudy is much older than Antoni Gaudí’s exuberant Barcelona buildings, or his name, so the adjective doesn’t come from the Catalan architect’s name. The showy sense dates to the late 15th century and may be related to the earlier noun gaud, a flashy...
You’d be forgiven for wondering if eavesdropping derives from the idea of would-be spies slipping and falling from the eaves of a house. But it doesn’t. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of...
performalism n.— «Grobman and Neuman call the new trend in architecture “performalism,” a term that is derived from the words “performance” (the way in which a building and urban planning in general function, and...
How do you pronounce the architectural term beaux arts? (Yep, Grant accidentally left of the final S when he spelled the term on the air.) Is it pronounced boh-ZART, boh-ART, boh-ZAR, or boh-ZARTS? We settle a dispute between a New Jersey woman and...