Nancy from New Haven, Connecticut, has noticed the word liminal turning up everywhere lately and wonders if she’s imagining it. She’s not. The word’s use has risen sharply since around 2021, particularly in long-form journalism and public...
Lindsay in San Diego, California, says some of her younger coworkers use the phrase out of pocket to mean “unavailable,” but she’s also heard it used to mean “acting out of line.” The meaning of this phrase usually involves one of three things...
The parent of a highschooler in Madison, Wisconsin, says that at the beginning of each semester, when her daughter’s classmates introduce themselves and their preferred pronouns, gender-neutral students often say their pronouns are they and...
Patricia in San Diego wonders why POTUS, FLOTUS, and SCOTUS suddenly seem everywhere. SCOTUS appears in an 1879 Phillips Code manual for telegraph operators, while POTUS grew naturally from POT, President of the, plus U.S. It is found in print by...
Even though blogs can’t read and newspapers can’t speak, it’s totally appropriate to write “the blog reads,” or “the newspaper says.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Blog...
The writer Clay Shirky tipped us off to a morbid bit of slang used in the dying business of print newspapers, where obituaries are referred to as subscriber countdowns. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Subscriber...