In 1963, the writer James Baldwin was the subject of a profile in LIFE magazine, in which he observed, “You think your pain and heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” This is part of a complete episode...
Kara from Rockwood, Tennessee, asks about boogeyman after hearing in Port-au-Prince that the word came from a Haitian slave-revolt leader named Bokman. That story is unlikely, because related words are older than the revolt that led to Haiti’s...
strolling supper n.— «I “get” the fact that a “strolling supper” is another term for “buffet,” but I have a question: what happens if the “strolling” supper gets up and leaves?» —“Marian Ilitch will ‘stroll’ into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame...
obiticide n.— «Speaking of which, the Star did in fact kill a couple of well-known people by mistake, a practice known as “obiticide,” or death by media. A Nov. 23 item about actors from the 1960s’ TV series Hogan’s Heroes incorrectly listed...
hoss election n.— «When they read the column here pondering the origin of the term “Hoss Elections,” a Hawai’i phrase used to describe those senior class hall-of-fame awards in high school, the Valdez’s were the only ones to come up with hard...
ambulance-chasing n. in science, doing research to achieve fame or to secure funding. Editorial Note: This is, of course, a variation on the “ambulance-chasing” most-often associated with lawyers. Both meanings might be generally defined as “seeking...