A flashlight emits a steady beam of light. So what’s the flash part of that word about? Also, if you’re a nervous Nellie, you’re skittish and indecisive—both characteristics of an American politician who earned that nickname in the...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski is puzzling over demonyms, those names people who reside in a particular area. For example, someone who lives in Brooklyn, New York, is a Brooklynite. People who live in Boston, Massachusetts, are called Bostonians, but what...
For a good time, google wake vs. awaken. Perhaps the most vexing verb in English, the term for waking up still puzzles the experts. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Wake vs. Awaken” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
Though the Spanish language, among others, has its quirks and foreignisms, the English language really can’t be touched when it comes to complicated and irregular spelling. Thus, spelling bees are primarily an English-language phenomenon...
fourth generation war n.— «With Hezbollah’s entry into the war between Israel and Hamas, Fourth Generation war (the military’s term for guerrillas, insurgents or irregular warfare in general) has taken another developmental step forward...
bastard
n.— «Of abnormal shape or irregular (esp. unusually large) size; spec. applied…to a file intermediate between the coarse and fine ‘cuts.’» —, 1677. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)