Steven from San Antonio, Texas, seeks a word that means “the opposite of trauma.” Perhaps eustress, literally “good stress”? Or harmonization? Placid? Is there a better term for this? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “What Word...
We’ve spoken before about “It’ll be better when you’re married,” often used to console someone who just had a small scrape or cut. A Chicago-area listener wrote us to say that in such cases, her mom’s phrase was “Quick, get a spoon!” This is part of...
rinkrash n.— «It’s also a violent sport. The Roller Warriors’ website features the “Injury Archive,” a photo gallery of grotesque bruises, facial stitches, knee-surgery images and floor burns—commonly known as rinkrash.» —“All-female roller derby...
monkey muscle n.— «The symptoms you describe are most likely the result of a tear in the one of the two heads of the main calf muscle—the gastrocnemius. This is also known as a “torn monkey muscle” injury, for reasons I don’t quite understand...
get off n.— «In a practice run on Saturday, Dungey had what the motocross publicists euphemistically refer to as a “get off.”I got sideways going over a jump and remember thinking, “This isn’t going to be good’” he said. “I went over the top and...
feature well n.— «If the “feature well” (as it’s known in the business) had merely consisted of Ms. Barnett’s usual pontificating, perhaps this week’s edition could have avoided both insult and injury.» —“The Stranger: A Critical Overview” by A...