Why is an exciting event called a barnburner? A real barn on fire can be a spectacular sight, with so many combustible materials inside. Metaphorically, then, a barnburner is a “humdinger” or a “doozy.” There’s also a political sense of barnburner...
When is your golden birthday? It’s when your age and the date match, such as turning 23 years old on the 23rd day of the month. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Golden Birthday” Recently, we received an email from Norma in Texas...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski puzzle this week is called “Three and a Match.” The challenge is to figure out three words from a common category—say, nationalities—that go with each of the three clues he mentions. If, for example, three clues are “coat,”...
belay slave n.— «The technical term for the climber who goes first is the “leader”; that’s the climber on the “sharp” end of the rope—the end you can hurt yourself on. The term for the climber who holds the rope and follows the route is “belay...
sharp adj.— «The technical term for the climber who goes first is the “leader”; that’s the climber on the “sharp” end of the rope—the end you can hurt yourself on.» —“A Match Made in Canada” by Michael J. Ybarra Wall Street Journal Nov. 12, 2008...
rap v.—Gloss: short for “rappel.” «He kept falling, flailing and failing to make the moves, eventually just hanging on the rope and begging me to lower him down to the last ledge. He was out of steam; we rapped back to the ground.» —“A Match Made...
