Grant gives Martha a little Greek test with the word leucomelanous. Leuco, meaning “white,” and melano, meaning “black,” together refer to someone with a fair complexion and dark hair, like Snow White or Veronica from the...
If you’re fair to middling (or with the g dropped: fair to middlin’), you’re doing just fine. A native of the Tennessee mountains wonders about the origin of this phrase her good-humored grandfather used. As it turns out, fair to...
Todd Purdum’s recent Vanity Fair article on the presidency contains intriguing beltway slang, including gaggle and full lid. This is part of a complete episode.
pureplay n.— «The songwriters, recording companies and performers who own the rights to these recordings feel they should be compensated since many Internet radio stations make money simply by playing music without live hosts, news...
Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers’ rights, the Amazon Kindle 2, Roy’s recent book, Alphabet Juice, “sonicky” words, and noodling for catfish. He also clears up...
Outside n.— «One tough lesson she said she learned Outside, as Alaskans often call the rest of the country: the media is not always fair.» —“Palin Returns to Snow and Cold of Home” by William Yardley in Anchorage...