fix-it ticket n.— «Apparently, in most states, having one headlight out is not considered a moving violation (in some states it is legal to only have one headlight working), but referred to as a “fix-it ticket.” Meaning, the police...
Barack Obama wants to put people to work building roads and bridges. But how about a federal jobs program for out-of-work writers? Also: why do we call it a flight of wine? How did the haircut called a mullet get its name?
One definition of a shivaree is “a compliment extended to every married couple made up of beating tin pans, blowing horns, ringing cowbells, playing horse fiddles, caterwauling, and in fine, the use of every disagreeable sound to make the...
talk and die syndrome n.— «Doctors have suggested that Richardson suffered from something called “talk and die” syndrome, in which bleeding that occurs between the skull and brain stem is delayed. Patients seem fine after the...
corduroy n.— «For the next seven hours, John “Bish” Neuhauser and eight swing-shift co-workers chugged up and down assigned areas of this expansive Park City-area resort in snowcats. They pushed snow around and combed it into...
The word borborygmic means “pertaining to rumblings in one’s tummy or intestines.” Martha explains that it comes from the Greek word borborygmus (“bor-buh-RIG-muss”), a fine example of onomatopoeia if ever there was one...