OMG, text messaging! It’s destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into illiterates. It’s probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, Txting: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal offers a...
tank farm n.— «Molokai has just one distribution facility—Island Petroleum. This ‘tank farm’ as it is called, serves as the only storage facility for the entire island. Three types of gasoline—premium, midgrade and regular, as well as two...
Let’s say that you’re getting diesel therapy at o-dark-thirty. What are you getting and when are you getting it? A New Jersey contestant from the National Puzzlers’ League learns the meaning of these terms in this week’s...
frequent-flyer program n.— Note: Related to frequent flier and diesel therapy. «Frakt obtained Guantanamo records showing Jawad was moved 112 times from cell to cell during a two-week period in May 2004 in what was known as the...
Our slang quiz was played this week by Rich Stevens of the comic Diesel Sweeties. Rich tried to figure out the correct meanings of simul and slug line. This is part of a complete episode.
splash and dash n.— «But the law did not anticipate “splash and dash”—a loophole in the system. This practice involves bringing a tanker of biodiesel made elsewhere, usually Indonesia or Malaysia, to the United States, adding...