pinger v.— «As searchers continue to comb thousands of square miles of ocean for debris from Air France Flight 447, their success could hinge on a device the size of a small flashlight that may well have been manufactured on Cape Cod. French...
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?
sterile cockpit n.— «Her ears were stuffed up, and at one point in the flight to Buffalo she asked if the plane could descend early so she would be more comfortable. With the plane flying well under 10,000 feet, a time when the crew was supposed to...
factory gauntlet n.— «The aircraft has also completed what is called “factory gauntlet,” a full simulation of the first flight using the plane itself. This test simulated all flight controls, hardware and software, manual and automatic landings and...
flight n.— «Five weeks before the film opens, you start saturating with a “flight” of thirty-second TV spots; and, at the end, you remind with fifteen-second spots, newspaper ads, and billboards.» —“The Cobra” by Tad Friend New Yorker Jan. 19, 2009...
This past weekend on "A Way with Words," we mulled over whether part of the recession-busting bailouts the government is proposing should be targeted at reviving the Federal Writers' Project of the 1930s. Get a taste of that, and more...