During the late 19th and early 20th century, thousands of volunteers helped crowdsource the Oxford English Dictionary. This venerable reference work includes citations sent in by inventors, eccentrics, scientists and educators, an Arctic explorer —...
A pickle inspired this week’s puzzle from Quiz Guy John Chaneski. He was thinking about the fact that if you need something to help you strum a guitar, a “pickle do just fine,” the word pickle sounding, of course, like an...
Johanna in Munising, Michigan, has a funny story about a childhood misunderstanding. Guitarists sometimes refer to their instrument as an ax. But at least as early as the 1940s, the slang term ax referred to other instruments, including trombones...
A violin maker wonders about the origin of a practice in his trade known as purfling, where a black and white line is inlaid into a tiny channel along the edge of the instrument. Martha traces the word back to the Latin filum, meaning...
jam track n.— «These give you access to set of intermediate lessons and “jam tracks” which serve as background loops for you to practice what you’ve learned.» —“Learn how to play guitar in your browser (in...
there guitar n.— «Tonight one of Conan’s guests was perennial air guitar contest runner-up, Bjorn Turock (sp?). In the course of the interview, Bjorn bristled at Conan’s inquiry as to what air guitarists call “real” guitars...
