Welcome to another A Way with Words newsletter! With any luck, our A Way with Words email messages don’t end up in your spam folder. But did you ever wonder why junk mail is called spam in the first place? There’s a funny story behind this term, and...
single
n.— «I was never a standup. I never worked “a single,” as they call it.» —“Q&A: Tina Fey” Broadcasting & Cable Aug. 10, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
scrotology n.— «He takes a dim view of the film’s “scatology and scrotology”-based humor, saying that it’s not that Apatow’s characters “have to talk dirty; it’s their only lexicon.”» —“Peter Bart: Variety’s...
flabby-pack n.— «It’s hard not to laugh when Will Ferrell, who can be very funny when given something actually funny to do, takes off his shirt to brandish his flabby-pack, a ritual unveiling now apparently written into all his...
felimony n.— «After Mr. Chong’s release in July 2004, there were no more impediments to what he and Mr. Marin unofficially refer to as their “felimony” tour. “It’s his felony, my alimony,” said Mr. Marin, who is twice divorced...
wetneck n.— «Mencia’s funniest stuff was his most cutting, from delineating the similarities between rednecks and Mexicans (or “wetnecks,” as he called them) to dismissing Hispanic gangbangers as “idiots”...
