A retronym is a word coined to distinguish something new from an older, more generic version, such as electric guitar or clock radio. A couple of new retronyms are fine water, or “unprocessed water that reflects a region’s terroir” and water...
A man from Fort Smith, Arkansas, says his Canadian wife is baffled by his pronouncing the word cement as CEE-ment. Stressing the first syllable of such words as police, insurance, umbrella, and vehicle is an occasional feature of Southerners’ speech...
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 “line” or...
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 3D)” by Josh Lowensohn CNET: The Download...
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. Restating the question...
eef v.— «Deke Dickerson, called a “rock mainstay” in an April 2003 article in Guitar Player Magazine, is an old “eefer” himself. He explains that eefin is a “sort of wheezing-in-rhythm thing that was popular amongst hillbillies. It goes WAY back...