A woman in Cheyenne, Wyoming, says her mom used to refer to the cloudy scum that sometimes forms atop vinegar as mother. The term has been around at least 500 years, and can refer to the scum on the top or sediment on the bottom. It’s also used as a...
Why do we call it canning if we’re putting stuff in glass jars? The answer has to do with when the technique was discovered. The process of canning came about in the late 1700s, when thin glass jars were used. Factories soon switched to metal cans...
relay n.— «There are millions of hard-shell clams on the harbor bottom, but pollutants and bacteria can make the shellfish dangerous to eat, especially raw. Some are okay for “relay,” a process whereby tainted shellfish are moved to a clean spot...
infectobesity n. obesity caused by bacteria or a virus. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
compost tea n.— «Spraying compost tea coats plants with a dense and diverse population of beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. A good tea can contain as many as 25,000 species of bacteria. Once on the leaves, compost tea suppresses...

