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 listener in Norwich, Connecticut, is going through a trove of love letters her parents sent each other during World War II. In one of them, her father repeatedly used the word hideous in an ironic way to mean “wonderful.” Is that part...
twazzock n.— «Raise your right hand, please, if you think the most probable response is: “Gladly. Please find enclosed my cheque…“ Thank you. Now, raise your left hand if you feel it’s more likely to be: “Right...
playdar n.— «You develop what is called “playdar”—a bit like gaydar. Swingers can spot each other in public. A couple once picked me up in a regular bar.» —“Diary of a Swinger” by Ewan Morrison Daily...
spave
v.— «People will risk their lives to spave—spend to save—at Ikea.» —“Fraught & social—Diary” by Kate Muir Times (London, England) Dec. 1, 2001. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)