More than a century ago, the Springfield Republican newspaper in Massachusetts proposed a new word for that twitterpated time in an adolescent’s life when one discovers the joys of flirtation: being all girled up. The Republican is also the...
What the fox says may be a mystery, but we do know that dogs bark differently around the world. In China, for example, they say not bow-wow but wang wang. Also, the story behind the British tradition of scrumping. It’s not a middle school...
To mash the brake or mash the elevator button comes from a Southern instance of mash meaning “to press something hard.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mash the Brake” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
This week’s word puzzle from Quiz Guy Greg Pliska involves taking a word, adding an “i” to the beginning, as if creating an Apple product, to get an entirely new word. For instance: “This is how Steve Jobs begins a card game...
reverse racial pass n.— «These scenarios all involve what is sometimes termed the “reverse racial pass,” which Philip Brian Harper has defined as “any instance in which a person legally recognized as white effectively...
misprison n.— Note: Same as misprision. «Technically, the legal question in this instance involves what the law calls “misprison of a felony,” which sets a legal standard that Obama’s “sin of omission” does not...