Lachryphagy is literally “tear-eating,” and refers to the way some insects crawl up to the eyes of much larger animals to sip their protein-rich tears. The name of the wine Lachryma Christi means “tear of Christ,” and someone tearful is said to be...
Mark in Scranton, Pennsylvania, calls about a phrase he heard on an old detective show: drop a dime. It means “to inform on someone” or “tip off the police,” and comes from the practice of literally dropping a dime into a payphone to make a 10-cent...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is starry-eyed about his latest puzzle, which involves the names of constellations. You might guess that the constellation Aquila has something to do with water. Actually, it’s named for a bird. Which one? This is part of a...
