Why don’t nouns have gender in English they way they do in Spanish, French, or German? Before the Middle English period, nouns in English were either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Over time, however, we’ve moved away from the semantically...
Is the excessively formal language in “True Grit” (2010) historically accurate? The hosts discuss why the Coen brothers would do away with contractions to set a tone for the movie. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Formal Movie...
kitchen sink-it v. phr.—Gloss: To report the worst financial performance possible. «In a note to clients yesterday, Credit Suisse analyst Thomas Gallagher said that although the number seems high, it is “plausible, especially if AIG continues to...
young invincible n.— «In the parlance of the health care industry, Ms. Boyd, whose case remains unresolved, is among the “young invincibles”—people in their 20s who shun insurance either because their age makes them feel invulnerable or because...
city-it n.— «Some local surfers complained last week that publicity for the new surfing beach would attract a large influx of city-its (rhymes with idiots), a local term for neophyte surfers from Manhattan.» —“Sand, Surf, and Permission to Brave...
DIFM n.— «The union of the two organizations will create a market leader in the small- and medium-sized business web hosting market. The new company will be able to offer Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) web services, adding cross...