Kyle in Fort Monroe, Virginia, says his family uses honyock for someone acting foolish or silly, especially politicians and bad drivers, and he wondered whether it carried older baggage. Variants include hunyak, hunyaker, and hunyokker. The word...
Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman’s soaring verse. How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a mention or perhaps even an illustration in the dictionary? The answer changes with the times. •...
On our Facebook group, a member told the story of teaching English in Japan, where a student couldn’t remember the slang expression stud muffin, but came pretty close by substituting his own term, hunk waffle. This is part of a complete...