A boodler is someone involved in bribery, graft, or political corruption. The word likely traces to Dutch boedel, meaning property; English boodle has carried that property-and-money sense, while boodler points to the person doing the corrupt...
The book Lingo, by Dutch linguist and journalist Gaston Dorren, is an enjoyable whirlwind tour of languages throughout Europe. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Book by Gaston Dorren” You’re listening to A Way with...
Alex from Los Angeles, California, remembers his Spanish-speaking grandmother using filibustero to mean “ruffian.” The term shares an origin with English filibuster: both trace back to Dutch vrijbuiter, meaning “freebooter,” a pirate who seizes...
A Dutch door is split horizontally so the bottom half can stay latched while the top half swings open. It’s also called a stable door or half-door, and the barn association helps explain the informal name Mr. Ed door. That nickname points to the...
The organization Historic Hudson Valley describes the African-American celebration of Pinkster in an exemplary way. It avoids the use of the word slave and instead uses terms such as enslaved people, enslaved Africans, and captives. It’s a...
It’s hard enough to get a new word into the dictionary. But what happens when lawmakers get involved? New Jersey legislators passed a resolution as part of an anti-bullying campaign urging dictionary companies to adopt the word upstander. It...