The haunting new novel Clear (Bookshop|Amazon) by Carys Davies is set amid the Scottish Clearances of the 19th century, a relentless program of forced evictions that drove whole communities of tenant farmers off the land. The story concerns a...
If you reeeeeeeeeally want to emphasize something in writing, you can engage in what linguists call expressive lengthening, or making a word longer by repeating letters. It’s an example of paralinguistic restitution — rendering in text...
What should you say to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one? When a person is experiencing a loss like that, it matters less what you say and more that you show up in the first place. Non-verbal communication of your sympathy can be far...
In a June episode, we asked you whether you thought cursive should be taught in schools. In an age where keyboarding classes are more common, and hand-writing anything beyond a signature seems to be a rare event, is there a place for the Palmer...
shut up and color v. phr.— «By basically telling his first officer to “shut up and color,” he has likely eliminated any backup that this first officer will provide in the future.» —by Anthony T. Kern Redefining...
doorknob v.— «The request usually comes after Belkin is about to walk out of the examining room. Doctors have a name for this: Doorknobbing. Metcalf said patients often “doorknob” when they’re afraid to reveal the purpose of...