After our conversation about helicopter parents, who hover closely over their children, and the Danish term curling foraeldre, or “curling parents,” who sweep away problems ahead of their children, much like people sweeping the ice in...
The origins of the peace symbol, why we say someone who’s enthusiastic is gung ho, a tasty spin on stuffed foccacia that originated in eastern Sicily, curling parents, sharking and other words for driving around a parking lot looking for a...
In English-speaking countries, overprotective Moms and Dads are called helicopter parents for the way they hover and meddle in their children’s lives. In Denmark, they’re called curling forældre, or curling parents, alluding to the sport...
This week on A Way with Words: Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. • Some restaurants now advertise that they sell “clean” sandwiches. But that doesn’t mean they’re condiment-free or the...
A Marine Corps veteran in Omaha, Nebraska, is puzzled by a phrase he often heard during his service in Vietnam: give me a huss, meaning “give me a hand” or “help me.” One strong theory for its origin involves a type of...
If you’re serious about writing a memoir, what topics should you include, and what can you leave out? And how honest can you really be about the other people in your life? Some of America’s leading memoirists wrote things they lived to...