There are eight major planets, but more than a million minor ones, including asteroids. If you discover one, you get the honor of naming it. The Dictionary of Minor Planet Names includes minor planets named for rock bands, jazz musicians, poets, and...
Generally speaking, the color that’s a blend of black and white is most often spelled gray in the U.S. and grey in the UK, although both spellings existed side by side for many years, and in fact, 18th-century British lexicographer Samuel...
A Washington, D.C. caller wonders whether there’s a difference between the words grey and gray. Do they designate exactly the same thing? Why are they spelled differently. This is part of a complete episode.
scriptment n.— «“What do you mean, you’re going to greenlight the movie with a kid named Matt directing?” Mr. Grey said, according to Mr. Weston. Yet with just a 65-page “scriptment” (more than a treatment, less than a script) laying out...
A caller asks about how lakes get named, and we talk about a lake with a 45-letter Indian name that may or may not translate as, “You fish on your side, I fish on my side and nobody fishes in the middle.” It’s Lake...
reef
v.— «I got my first grey hair yesterday. It was reefed without mercy from its root.» —“It’s time I was put out to greys” by Nicola Tallant Mirror Oct. 11, 1996. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)