zap n.— «Following the 1969 Stonewall riots, as the nascent gay rights movement became increasingly combative, a gay Philadelphia teenager initiated his own guerrilla war aimed at television, including the CBS Evening News. Mark Segal...
How can the word friend possibly describe both the people you went to school with and the people to whom you are connected through Facebook and MySpace? Are friends on the social sites really friends? Is there a better word to describe someone who...
whatifery n.— «I am glad that my hon. Friend has admitted what I believe was going through many of our minds—that we are baffled by the Minister’s explanation of what the clause is trying to do. I am certainly baffled. I suppose that the...
screw up move up n.— «The practice called “screw up move up” takes place by utilizing sexual favors with fellow employees to work up the chain of command, and also by violating policies and laws, an employee can screw up, not be charged...
A San Diego caller says he’s noticed that his high-school grandson and his buddies habitually refer to each other only by their last names, but his granddaughter says she and her own friends never do. Is this just a teenage guy thing? The book...
A caller wants to settle a friendly argument: Is something not worth debating called a moot point or a mute point? Here’s the scene from the Friends episode that Grant mentions, in which Joey misunderstands the term as moo point. This is part...