Janet in Montgomery, Alabama, reports that a day after she had surgery on her hand, the wound burst open, and a doctor noted that her wound dehisced. She’s used to hearing dehisce used in botany to mean the splitting of a plant structure to release...
The word curfew comes from a French expression that means “cover your fire” and goes all the way back to a similar phrase in Latin. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Curfew From a Command to Cover Fires” Hey...
Janine in Murray, Kentucky, shares some favorite tongue twisters. There’s the one that helps you remember the four cardinal directions: Never Eat Sour Wheat. Her dad was fond of saying The stump thunk the skunk stunk and the skunk thunk the...
Scott in Madison, Wisconsin, is curious about the word invoice. It’s related to the English word envoy, and comes from French, envois, literally “things sent.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Invoice and...
The English word stilliform means “drop-shaped,” from Latin stilla, meaning “drop.” The same drippy root turns up in distill, “to drip down,” and instill, “to put in drop by drop,” and the spelling stilliform even has a row of tall, narrow letters...
A monk at St. Gregory’s Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan, a Benedictine monastery in the Episcopal Church, shares some of the terms used there on a daily basis. The monks gather seven times a day to pray as a group, a practice called corporate...
