A kerfuffle is a fuss, bother, or disturbance. It’s from Scots curfuffle, likely from Scottish Gaelic car, meaning “turn,” “bend,” or “twist,” plus fuffle, a Scots word that means “to disorder” or “to ruffle.” Early forms like carfuffle and...
Brianna from Jacksonville, Florida, says her family and friends call someone who’s causing a scene or acting foolish a weapon. A blunder or awkward moment is weaponry. The usage, which she picked up from her dad, who’s from Long Island, New...
Roderick in Jacksonville, Florida, says patients in his cardiac electrophysiology practice often look at the tangle of EKG wires on their chests and joke that now they’re wired for sound. What’s the origin of this phrase? Although to wire meaning...
What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...
While watching a broadcast about the Artemis moon launch, Josh from Jacksonville, Florida, noted that amid all the precise language, scientists describing precise orbital adjustments used the word tad, as in just a tad, which seemed like the...
Bonnie in Jacksonville, Florida, is in search of a term that has to do with rain adhering under the eaves. She’s sure she once heard such an expression. There’s water adhesion and surface tension, as well as the Coanda effect, but none of those...