Think you know Downton Abbey? Try using the Up-Goer Five Text Editor to describe the plot using the thousand most common words in English! Your description probably won’t sound much like the Dowager Countess. This is part of a complete episode...
What does it mean if someone’s on a still hunt? This hunting term, for when you’re walking quietly to find prey, has been conscripted by the political world to refer to certain kinds of campaign strategies. This is part of a complete episode...
Can ordinary also mean “crude” or “crass”? This usage was more common in previous generations, but it is still acceptable. It’s also the source of ornery, meaning “combative” or “crotchety.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
When did the expression have a crush on someone come into use? The television series Downton Abbey has dropped this and other fun bits of language, but no need to worry about its historical accuracy — crush has been around since the early 1880s. To...
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s witches’ knickers! What do you call stray plastic bags that litter the landscape? Also, what it means to do something like a boss, how to hyphenate correctly, and why we say we have a crush on someone. Also, similes...
If a lady is no better than she ought to be, her sexual morals may be in question. The saying, recently popularized by the BBC program Downton Abbey, is what’s known as a charientism, or a bit of sugar-coated snark. By the way, if you’d like to hear...