Contractions have been used in English since Elizabethan times, but conventions about their correct use go in and out of favor. Writing in 1899 in the monthly magazine Correct English, author and publisher Josephine Turck Baker advised that using...
A pickle inspired this week’s puzzle from Quiz Guy John Chaneski. He was thinking about the fact that if you need something to help you strum a guitar, a “pickle do just fine,” the word pickle sounding, of course, like an...
whafa n.—Gloss: A contraction of “what the fuck?” «Because Probst is a publisher and has an Amazon Advantage account, he sent Amazon a letter saying “whafa.”» —“Amazon is a Gay-Hating Company for...
tinterweb n. the (web-based) Internet. Editorial Note: Although this term began in, and is still most common in, the United Kingdom, where such contractions are more plausible and familiar, it has spread to other parts of the Anglosphere...
skid n. a disreputable or unfashionable young person. Editorial Note: There is some evidence that this term is most common in Canada. Etymological Note: Said to be a contraction of street kid, but there’s little substantiation for this. (source:...