Martha explains how experiments with dead frogs and live wires led to the invention of the battery, and inspired a couple of familiar English words.
What do we call it when new inventions or ideas change the name of something old? It used to be that the word guitar was sufficient, but now we regularly distinguish between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. Same for television, a word that...
hooter hider n.—Gloss: a cloth or short apron that gives a mother modesty when nursing a child. «This invention is called the Hooter Hider, for women who want to breast feed in public. Buggy and I are going into business for ourselves, and we hope...
gun v.— «The present invention relates to a process for the repair of blast furnaces. More specifically, it relates to a method of repairing blast furnaces using a vertical remote controlled refractory gunning apparatus.…U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,858...
Tingle table n. a U-shaped table with 18 to 25 baskets or bins, used for sorting tax returns. Etymological Note: Supposedly named after an IRS employee named James Tingle who created the table in the 1960’s. His first name is sometimes given as...
multigenium n.— «World-changing technologies don’t leap into being overnight. He’s even coined a new word—”multigenium”—for the cumulative, multigenerational exertions that lead to something as complex as the airplane or the printing press. Let’s...