As we’ve previously discussed, firefighters don and doff their equipment, terms deriving from do on and do off. They are also said to dout a fire, meaning they “extinguish” it, dout being a similar shortening of do out. This is part of a complete...
A recent fire in Grant’s apartment building has him pondering the role played by fire in English idioms. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Language of Fires” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Martha Barnette. And I’m Grant...
job blocker n.— «It’s no wonder that many tattooists themselves refer to them as “job blockers.” How can you take seriously anyone who has a fire-breathing winged serpent / the names of their three kids in sanskrit / the logo of a football team...
heli-mulching n.— «Rice straw dropped from a heavy-lift helicopter rained down like snow Monday on fire-blackened forest land north of Oroville in an effort to control erosion. The process, known as “heli-mulching,” is set to continue through...
no duff other.— «L/Cpl Steven Jones, 25—an Army passenger on the plane—yelled, “No duff, no duff, we are on fire, we are on fire,” before communication was lost. “No duff” is a military term used to indicate a real emergency instead of a drill...
surface snorting n.— «Scores of Sydneysiders woke to the sight of thick white smoke coming from a Collins-class submarine off Sydney’s northern beaches this morning, but their fears of a fire were unfounded—it was just the ageing sub’s batteries...