Eels, orts, and Wordle! Sweden awarded its most prestigious literary award to a book about…eels. The Book of Eels reveals the mysterious life cycle of this sea creature and its significance for famous figures from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud. Plus...
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...
Ben calls from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to say that he and his wife, who is from Germany, were taking a leisurely stroll at Valley Forge. They ended up leaving one of the trails and taking a diagonal route across a field and agreed that in...
Kristin lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, grew up in England, where public footpaths between buildings are called ginnels in Yorkshire and twittens in Sussex. Other terms around the country for these pathways include chare, snicket, jitty, jigger, and wynd...
An unofficial trail formed by people, animals, or erosion is called a social path, a desire path, or a cow path. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “What Do You Call Unofficial Paths?” I just got back from Sedona, Arizona...
A Wisconsin woman is trying to remember a term for paths in the grass created by pedestrians taking shortcuts. Grant has an answer for her, straight from the jargon of urban planning professionals. The caller also wants recommendations for a good...