Scott in Kokomo, Indiana, noticed his daughter’s school using rubric for a grading grid. The word goes back to a Latin word for “red,” and to red ochre used in manuscripts for headings and directions that needed to stand out. In Christian texts...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska presents a puzzle about the Oxcar awards, given to fictitious films, the names of which differ by just one letter from the names of the real 2010 Best Picture Oscar nominees. Here’s one such plot: “George Clooney...
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...
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...
“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...
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...