racecraft n.— «“When you get to this stage, these guys know how to drive race cars,” said Mears, who is working with driver Will Power as he prepares for his second Indy start and first with Penske on May 24. “So it’s really...
nuke the fridge v. phr.— Note: The short life of this term is ably covered by Jason Kottke. «In TV land, this phenomenon is known as “jumping the shark”: the moment when a once proud series swan-dives into putridity. It’s a...
Hello from Indianapolis, where we've just spent a great weekend with the staff and listeners of WFYI 90.1. You can listen to this week's show here: We talked about words we read but didn't know, like "spanghew" and...
How-do, neighbor! It’s another issue of the A Way with Words newsletter. This past weekend's show was a brand-new treat, stuffed full of chewy language goodness. We talked about "the vapors," whether...
cato n.— «Cnce a year, on this bleak, 400-square-mile dry lake bed, they meet for the Indy 500 of rocketry, with waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration. This year, the subculture itself is on the defensive, unsure whether it...
smurfing n.— «Sometimes meth cooks can get around these regulations by what McClintock referred to as “smurfing,” stopping from one store to another to pick up one or two packages until they have enough to work with...