The Spanish word candado, or “padlock,” comes from Latin catenatus, meaning “chained,” also the source of the English word concatenation, which means “a series of things,” or literally “links in a chain.” In parts of the Spanish-speaking world...
After hanging out with San Diego sailing enthusiasts, Martha picked up several bits of slang and jargon. Catenary describes the desirable curve of an anchor chain, from Latin catena, meaning “chain.” A chain that is not pulled up correctly runs the...
Martha shares a listener’s email about a pet’s name changing over time. In this case, it’s a cat whose name morphed from “Orange Juice” all the way to “Lanny.” Martha traces the con-cat-enation of monikers. This is part of a complete episode...