“Nuke the fridge”? We kick off our series on contenders for 2008’s “Word of the Year” with a look at this new slang phrase.
liner n.— «Ten years ago, Roger Ruske told growers, Cumberland Nurseries decided to become a supplier of “liners.” Liners is a term for immature plants or trees that are kept for a year. The nursery that grows them then sells them to another, where...
This week we kick off our 2008 summer minicasts, offered only online, with two downloads. It’s what we’re calling an estival festival. We hear a lot about political candidates these days. But did you ever stop to think about where the word candidate...
Recently we discussed the lack of a word in English for the act of trying to do in your offline life something you can only do on a computer, like expecting spellcheck to kick in if you’re scribbling a grocery list, for example. The hosts share...
Hey, everybody! This past weekend's show was our tribute to National Grammar Day, which is Tuesday, March 4th. Among other things, we talked about "booby trap," the food dish "turkey Manhattan," "lock, stock, and...
funding cliff n.— «Naturally, however, there’s a budget sleight-of-hand. Known as a “funding cliff,” the yearly Schip layout increases to $13.9 billion in 2011, then abruptly cuts spending by 65% below current funding levels. This helps “score” the...