Molasses Monday is a slang term for that first, slow-moving day of the workweek. Other nicknames associated with days of the week include Sunday Scaries, Humpday for Wednesday, Little Friday for Thursday, and of course, Taco Tuesday. This is part of...
How do languages change and grow? Does every language acquire new words in the same way? Martha and Grant focus on how that process happens in English and Spanish. Plus, the stories behind the Spanish word gringo and the old instruction to...
Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman’s soaring verse. How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a mention or perhaps even an illustration in the dictionary? The answer changes with the times. •...
The Italian word ponte means “bridge,” as in the Ponte Vecchio of Florence. In Italian, ponte now also denotes the Monday or Friday added to make for a long weekend. Other languages, such as German and Spanish, also make a similar use of their words...
A young woman is puzzled when her boyfriend’s father says he was looking for someone who needs a good boy Friday. It’s most likely a reference to Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. The title character spends 30 years on a remote tropical...
Ham-and-egger job, for a botched or below-standard effort, grew out of boxing slang. A ham-and-egger was a palooka: a low-rung fighter who filled out a card, took whatever small payday or meal came with it, and wasn’t expected to shine. The phrase...
