David from Plymouth, Wisconsin, wonders about the expression a cord of wood. The phrase goes back to the 17th century and has to do with using a cord to measure a specific quantity of stacked wood. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
In Scotland, a fank is a coil of rope or a snare, a sense that gives rise to fankle, meaning to tangle. As a verb, fankle can also mean to lose the thread of a conversation, and as a noun, it can mean the tangle itself. Earbud cords, for example...
fireline cord n.— «Martie Schramm, a spokesman for the firefighting effort, said the explosive teams lay what’s called a fireline cord along areas where a 1999 storm left piles of dead wood. The cord blasts the wood into tiny shards and slivers...
