Nerd used to be a term of derision, connoting someone who was socially awkward and obsessed with a narrow field of interest. Now it’s used more admiringly for anyone who has a passion for a particular topic. Linguists call that type of...
If something’s “the bee’s knees,” you can bet that it’s also beast. A sixth grade teacher wonders about the term beast being thrown around by her students. This synonym for “cool” or “good” is...
How do you say “not my problem”? A listener shares his go-to: Not my pig, not my farm. It means the same thing as “I don’t have a horse in that race,” or “I don’t have a dog in that fight.” Douglas...
You know those dull sports clichés like “We came to play” and “He left it all on the field”? They’re called bromides. The hosts explain the connection between the tired platitude and the sedative called potassium...
single shot n.— «Other things which play havoc with aldermen candidates is many voters do not vote for five aldermen. The under votes in the aldermen election are substantial. So it is important for the candidate to be the first, second...
citizen science n.— «The result is an impressively long-running example of “citizen science,” the term for projects in which amateurs gather field data for future research, making up in numbers what we lack in training and...