A door divided across the middle so that the bottom half stays closed while the top half opens is known as a Dutch door, a stable door, or a half-door. Some people informally call it a Mr. Ed door, named after a TV series popular in the 1960’s about...
Store clerks: If someone asks for a case quarter in change, it means they don’t want two dimes and a nickel or five nickels. They want a single 25-cent piece. Same for a case dollar, case dime, or case nickel. The customer is asking for a single...
Lawrence from San Diego asks whether an assignment should ask what students have learned or what they have learnt. The older -t past-tense and past-participle forms—learnt, spelt, and the like—largely gave way to -ed forms in American English during...
Why do we call a run-down area skid row? Here’s a picture of a skid road from Out West, vol. 19, ed. Charles F. Lummis, 1902, Out West Company, Los Angeles This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Skid Row” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
scholasticide n.— «Now in Gaza…we see the policy more clearly than ever—this “scholasticide.” The Israelis know nothing about who we really are, while we study and study them. But deep down they know how important education is to the Palestinian...
full barn n.— «I almost feel badly for those who don’t take advantage of coming to events like our men’s ice hockey game against Canisius College earlier in November. We had a full house (or “full barn,” as it is called in the hockey world)...
