Puzzling over the New York Times Spelling Bee, Jordan in Cheyenne, Wyoming, played the word pipped, but was surprised that the game disallowed it. He remembers hearing the word in stories about the historic 1954 Miracle Mile race between Sir Roger...
Jordan from Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, says that when he used the word gitch, his colleagues from the United States had no idea it meant “underwear.” The Second Edition of A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles has a...
Barack Obama wants to put people to work building roads and bridges. But how about a federal jobs program for out-of-work writers? Also: why do we call it a flight of wine? How did the haircut called a mullet get its name?
gasoline siding n.— «The wood-frame home, which is adjacent to Vale Park on the south side of Eastern Avenue, also has what firefighters euphemistically call “gasoline siding”—a petroleum-based imitation brick that feeds the...
spoofo n.— «One large envelope sent by North Fort Myers resident Julie Jordan contained something called an operatic “spoofo” about Florida retirement life, which included roles for a soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone...
short coat n.— «The structure of medical training in the United States is such that after a book-heavy first two years of medical school, the third- and fourth-year medical students are given their half-length white coats (hence the...
