Have trouble remembering the difference between stalagtites and stalagmites? Martha shares a mnemonic that will help. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Stalagtites vs. Stalagmites” Grant, a while back on the show, we were talking...
What’s happening linguistically when someone’s using the second-person singular possessive in a list of items? A Charlottesville, Virginia, caller began wondering that recently after hearing a wood-flooring salesperson say, “You got your maple, you...
“You knucklehead!” Where’d we get an epithet like that? Grant tells the story about the wartime cartoon that helped popularize the term. Check out the adventures of R.F. Knucklehead in LIFE magazine. More about cartoons used for war-time education...
excessing n.— «At the end of the school year, a committee led by one of Warley’s alleged protégés met to discuss moving some of its employees to other schools—a process called “excessing’ —because J.O. Wilson was over its budget.» —“High Court...
joint rag
n.— «Magazines produced by prisoners are called “joint rags.”» —“A convict’s look at life on the inside” in Carleton University Carleton Newsroom (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) July 21, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
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...