Like mushrooms in fallen leaves, new words keep popping up overnight. Also, is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter“? And what does it mean when someone says, “Well, that was odder than Dick’s...
frostback n.— «Have a feature in today’s Toronto Star on all the “frostbacks” on the January press tour.… Frostbacks is an expression I’d never heard of until Star TV columnist Rob Salem spelled it out for me last...
Stand back! Farther back! It's another newsletter from "A Way with Words." A brand-new episode hit the airwaves this weekend, in which we took a look at some of the coinages on Barack Obama's name, and at...
Obamamania, Obamabot, Obamathon, Obamamentum— the list of variations on the name “Obama” goes on and on. Is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter”? And what does it mean when someone...
Happy holidays to everyone! Your gift is another episode of A Way with Words. It's one-size-fits-all. This week we chewed over whether "cotton-picking" is racist, unintentionally funny headlines, a holiday-song quiz...
patch-n-match n.— «The carpet in the hallway on the penthouse level was cut and cobbled together—a practice known as “patch-n-match.”» —“Eloise Sheds a Tear” by Evgenia Peretz Vanity Fair January, 2008. (source:...