Beware of false friends, those words that don’t translate the way you’d expect. For example, the word “gift” in German means “poison,” and the Spanish word “tuna” means “the fruit of the prickly...
If you’re told to “keep your eyes peeled,” you’re being warned to stay alert. But…“peeled”? This is part of a complete episode.
BOB n.— «But the mason bee earns an “A” for effort from orchardists and gardeners. This native of Washington, common throughout the West, is one of our hardest-working pollinators. Mason bees have a sweet tooth for fruit trees, and for...
shot berry n.— «I spoke to Paul Vossen, Sonoma County farm adviser, about your question. He says that your olives are producing what is known as “shot berries,” tiny fruit that isn’t pollinated and then drops from the tree...
yak n.— «Their discovery of cognac—“yak” as they affectionately call it—started a fashion among young black Americans who, in a practice considered heresy in France, mix it with fruit juices to make cocktails such as French Connection and...
Hello, guys and dolls--it's another newsletter from A Way with Words. We aired an episode this past weekend in which we talked about the footwear known as "go-aheads," what part of the body is "possible,"...