Word nerd Ammon Shea quit his job as a furniture mover in New York City to spend an entire year reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary. The result, in addition to eyestrain, headaches, and skeptics’ puzzlement, was Shea’s new book...
Greetings, wanderers, and welcome home. This past weekend on A Way with Words we wrestled with "commentate," "tie me over" vs. "tide me over," long words, and "biweekly" vs. "semiweekly." We also...
sweater on the rail n.— «Hustling doesn’t merely involve the players at the table. There was a rogue’s gallery of “stakehorses” (financial backers), “sweaters on the rail” (side bettors) and “nits” (kibitzers). As the gambling spigot has...
smeet v.— «The first time members of the leading online virtual world got together for the face-to-face reality of the Second Life Community Convention, it was a lexicographer’s dream. “People actually coined a new phrase: ‘Nice to...
cum gutter n.— «“There is reason to envy someone skinny enough to have such a pronounced apollo’s belt. i often tell people that i have one, but that it’s just covered in a layer of fat.”…“round here we call those cum gutters...
guap n. (a lot of) money. Editorial Note: The speculative etymology given in the April 2005 cannot be substantiated. Less common variant spellings include “gwap” and “gwop.” (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)