Sure, there’s winter, spring, summer, and fall. But the seasons in between have even more poetic names. In Alaska, greenup describes a sudden, dramatic burst of green after a long, dark winter. And there are many, many terms for a cold snap...
Why do we refer to “testing or going beyond limits” as pushing the envelope? In aeronautics, to push the envelope means to try to go past the edge of the aircraft’s perceived capability. In the 1980s, the phrase was popularized by...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words. This past weekend we gave another airing to our episode about crossword puzzles. This is the one in which we talked about whether it should be "driver license," "drivers'...
A San Diego woman is bothered by the convention of addressing envelopes to Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Shouldn’t we also include the woman’s first name?
spoofo n.— «One large envelope sent by North Fort Myers resident Julie Jordan contained something called an operatic “spoofo” about Florida retirement life, which included roles for a soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone...
white gold n.— «Traditionally white is the colour of mourning. When a person dies, friends, relatives and members of the community collect money in a white envelope (called white gold) for the family and the bereaved, which goes towards...