A heavy, wind-driven rain in England’s West Country is a kelsher. A misty drizzle that makes everything shimmer is a drisk, and a cow-quaker is a cold spring shower in the Midlands that leaves pastured cattle shivering. These are among the many...
After our conversation about the expression dingle day, a term used by workers at a research station in Antarctica to denote bright, sunny weather, a listener offers a possible explanation for this term. It may derive from the idea of the skies...
Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in northern climes. • In the 1970s, some scientists argued that two quarks should be called truth and beauty. • The...
An aglu, also spelled agloo, is a seal’s breathing hole in a sheet of ice. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Aglu or Agloo” Grant, I have a word I know you need if you don’t have it already. Okay, agglue, a-g...
Craig, a whale biologist in Alaska, wonders how many words have been adopted into English from such languages as Inuit, Yupik, Tlingit and Inupiaq. Indigenous languages in the far North have contributed mukluk, malamute, kayak, and parka. The word...
Why do we call a frankfurter a hot dog? It seems an unsettling 19th-century rumor is to blame. Also, if someone quits something abruptly, why do we say they quit cold turkey? This term’s roots may lie in the history of boxing. Plus, a...