“A horse apiece”, meaning “six of one, half a dozen of the other,” comes from an old dice gambling game to describe a draw. This is part of a complete episode.
Is there a word you keep having to look up in the dictionary, no matter how many times you’ve looked it up before? Maybe it’s time for a mnemonic device. And: a listener shares a letter from Kurt Vonnegut himself, with some reassuring...
What’s your choice for the 2011 word of the year? Grant shares some of his picks. Speaking of picks, why do football commentators seem to love the term pick-six? Also, great quotations from writers, the meaning of such Briticisms as cheeky and...
Nobody likes a humblebrag. That’s when someone complains about, say, having to choose among their dozen college acceptance letters. Harris Wittles, a writer on television’s Parks and Recreation, runs the Twitter handle @Humblebrag, where...
bedwetter n.— «A member of Congress once told me that Representatives who consider changing their votes based on only a dozen or so phone calls from constituents are referred to as “bedwetters” by the other members of Congress...
dag n.—Gloss: A euphemized or modified form of “damn.” «“He was selling it right here at the bar? Dag. I didn’t know it was that kind of place.” According to court documents, Mr. Younge, 50, of the Bronx, sold illegal drugs on...