flybrid n.— «Nearly every F1 car will be a flybrid in 2009, as the race series tries to become more relevant to mass market trends. It’s also trying to convince potential fans it’s a “green” sport.…A flybrid is hybrid gasoline/flywheel system which...
win n.— Note: This is a slang us of “win” as a mass noun. «Wow, I never knew the Smooth Criminal video was a tribute to Astaire! This is great, full of win.» —“Astaire/Jacko mashup video: Smooth Criminal” by Agent 86 Boing Boing May 28, 2008...
Hey-o! It's another newsletter from A Way with Words This past weekend's show was completely new. We tackled the expression "put a snap on the grouch bag," how to pronounce "patronize," and the rise of the German word...
What’s the trouble with using the expression “drink the Kool-Aid” to connote blind, unquestioning obedience to a politician? A caller is bothered by the grisly origin of the phrase—a reference to the 1978 mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana—and thinks...
Ahoy, listeners! In this past weekend's show we talked about how reports that it's the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated, about "founder" versus "flounder," about names for winds, and we...
Ahoy, listeners! In this past weekend’s show we talked about how reports that it’s the end of the line for the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated, about “founder” versus “flounder,” about names for winds, and we debunked that old lie about the...
