Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, not at all. The answer lies with politics and conquest rather than language itself. Plus: a new...
One old sense of the word stranger means “a lone tea leaf floating in a cup of tea.” A longtime superstition holds that such a lone leaf means a stranger will soon show up at the door. In Britain, a host may offer to pour a cup of tea...
A few weeks ago, a listener was looking for a term to describe the copy of The Emperor’s New Clothes that he’d read many times as a child. In this picture book, the naughty bits were always cleverly covered up. Thinking he wanted a...
Need a Scrabble word with q or z? Grant shares some of his favorite legal Scrabble words: qi (the circulating life force in Chinese philosophy), qat (a leaf chewed in some cultures for stimulating effects), and za (a shortening of the word...
supreme v.— «Other citrus presentations include a sauteed free-range chicken, served with oven-roasted supremed orange wedges, and meat dishes flavored and garnished with house-preserved lemons—slashed fruit put up in jars with tons of...
decapitation strategy n.— «Decapitation strategy. Sensitive souls will be surprised this was dreamed up by portly Lib Dem campaign director, Lord Rennard, who took a leaf out of the Pentagon’s book to describe beheading the Conservatives...