A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word.
foot drop n.— «I underwent a hip operation in 1997 and was attempting to get back in trim but was concerned about my right leg, I had something called “foot drop.” It didn’t lift up and didn’t quite work.» —“How MS has...
thumper truck n.— «Dawson has deployed three trucks to test 30-square miles that cover neighborhoods and non-residential areas in and around Fort Worth. The trucks emit a vibration into the ground ranging from 10-120 hertz. Small white...
BUI n.— «So Mr. Roy still lives near campus, in a 10-foot-by-12-foot room, and rides his bicycle to college house parties. (Drunken riders get B.U.I.’s—“biking under the influence” tickets.) He plays in a band that “sounds like Tom...
landscraper n.— «The proposed development on the site is a nine-story, 220,000 square foot space occupying roughly half of the south side of its block on Boylston Street. While aesthetics are often subjective, local architects have taken...
finé del capo n.— «I preferred Knoebels’ Twister, with its banging 101-foot split-lift hill (it climbs in two stages), and terrifying finé del capos (head-choppers, or low-hanging beams)? It’s a gut-wrenching coaster.» —“A Good Old...