If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists have a name for it. • The best writers create...
Suzanne from Tallahassee, Florida, is curious about her father’s expression: Let’s go knock the stink off, meaning something along the lines of “Let’s get out of here” or “Let’s go shake off the doldrums...
The Yiddish phrase Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik and its variants have been used to tell someone to stop babbling or making noise. Literally, it means “don’t knock me a teakettle.” This is part of a complete episode.
Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman’s soaring verse. How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a mention or perhaps even an illustration in the dictionary? The answer changes with the times. •...
The language and melodies of military marching songs connect grown children with their parents who served, as do parents’ love letters from World War II. Plus, “running a sandy” describes an awkward love triangle and Northern Spy...
As we mentioned earlier, knock-knock jokes were once a fad sweeping the nation. What we didn’t mention is that there are quite a few Shakespearean knock-knock jokes. Such as: Knock-Knock. Who’s there? Et. Et who? Et who, Brute? (Hey...