face of freedom n.— «Freed from the (slightly tarnished) steel and glass of the financial districts of our cities, beards are on the rise. Gone are the 6am starts, the 7am transatlantic conference calls, the boozy business lunches and the...
Moonbats and wingnuts and sleepovers, oh my! Martha and Grant discuss political slang making the rounds during this election year. Also: Is it duct tape or duck tape? And what are you supposed to put in a jockey box?
glass closet n.— «There are still many performers and industry notables, he says, who threaten to sue if their sexuality is revealed. Others live gay social lives but don’t talk about their sexuality—the so-called “glass closet...
Is that oh-so-handy sticky stuff called duct tape or duck tape? An Emmy-nominated filmmaker is wondering, specifically because he has to instruct narrators to be careful to avoid running together a “T” sound at the end of a word with the...
grizzle v.— «Get this formula wrong, however, and the finished glass would be unstable. It would continue to absorb moisture from the air and become cloudy in a process called grizzling. Thanks to the wonders of modern atmospherically...
Unless you’ve been hiding out in a galaxy far, far away, you know that this is an election year. Grant and Martha talk about current political slang. Ever hear of glass pockets? Or horseracism? Is there an etymological connection between...