National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you’re not writing from...
A high-schooler in Indianapolis, Indiana, wonders why the word number is abbreviated as no., given that there’s no letter O in the word. The answer lies in the Latin word numero, which is the ablative form of the Latin word for number, numerus. The...
After moving from Indiana to Arkansas, Shannon noted that people in her new hometown use the adjective proud to mean “glad,” as in “I’m so proud you came for a visit.” In addition to describing someone “full of...
Nicole in Indianapolis, Indiana, has a long-running dispute with her British husband about how to pronounce the word buoy. He says it’s pronounced BOY, like buoyant, and she insists it’s BOO-ee — a difference that reflects their...
Sam in Westville, Indiana, heard a woman from Puerto Rico use the expression You cannot cover the sun with a finger, referring to the problem of having more things to work on than she could handle. The Spanish expression tapar el sol con un dedo, or...
Pam from Denton, Texas, says her mother-in-law always used the expression independent as a hog on ice. A hog that stubbornly gets itself stranded on a sheet of ice is in an extremely awkward position. A passage in the book Jack Shelby: A Story of...