Time for another linguistic mystery. Where would you be if you decided to go twacking around duckish, and then you came home and wrote about it in a scribbler?
When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it’s a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.
zombie n.— Note: The term dates from more than four decades ago. «By odd coincidence, I met my cousin Harry in the C. N. E. Horse Palace, where Ontario troops were first assembled. But we were on different sides, so to speak. I was...
bring-down n.— «At the same time the advanced due-diligence process, known as “bring-down,” being undertaken by B&B’s advisers had started to turn up some disturbing figures in the mortgage book.» —“B&B had to pass the...
moon n.— «Then I straightened out the front wheels, somehow managing to keep the Zamboni from coming to an ice-melting dead stop.…Nodding shamefully, I quit my showboating and refocused my attention on driving. I made 10 more passes...
phonemarking n.— «Within days, however, lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) began directly contacting the Energy Department. They sought to secure money for their favorite causes outside of the congressional...