Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s puzzle involves nominative determinism, the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate toward occupations that fit their names. For example, which handsome movie actor, who was twice voted People magazine’s...
A San Diego listener of Mexican descent says a scene in a Quentin Tarantino film has her wondering about the term Mexican standoff. Is it just a duel? A three-way duel, complete with guns? The end of a 1-1 doubleheader in baseball? Over time...
Is it ever correct to refer to a mustache as a plural? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Plural of Mustache” Howdy, you got A Way with Words. Hi, this is Jennifer from Carlsbad. Hi, Jennifer. Hi, Jennifer. What’s...
silver n.— «Even the so-called better prints that pirates affectionately call silver” are not free of bloopers. One young media professional was amused to find Brad Pitt crying in Spanish in what the cover promised to be the English...
The real problem with texting isn’t how it affects language, but what it does to social interaction. Is there anything more annoying when you’re trying to have a conversation than watching your companion’s eyes flitting to his...