What’s the very last word in the dictionary? Depending on which dictionary you consult, it might be zythum, zyzzyva, zyxomma, or zyxt. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Last Word in the Dictionary” Hello, you have...
“You knucklehead!” Where’d we get an epithet like that? Grant tells the story about the wartime cartoon that helped popularize the term. Check out the adventures of R.F. Knucklehead in LIFE magazine. More about cartoons used for...
A caller wonders if the Spanish and Arabic articles el and al spring from the same linguistic root. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Spanish and Arabic Article Roots” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, how are you...
alpha gent n.— «“I like to think we’re producing a magazine for the…“ He pauses, and adopts the self-conscious twinkle of a marketing man with a buzz word to unleash: “Alpha Gent!”» —“Men’s Health – Arrival of...
Why do we call a run-down area skid row? Here’s a picture of a skid road from Out West, vol. 19, ed. Charles F. Lummis, 1902, Out West Company, Los Angeles This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Skid Row” Hello, you...
poor-geoisie n.— «“If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar,” Mr. Peres said. Instead, the streets of Williamsburg are crowded with men who are, as he noted, “proudly rocking...