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...
After passing by an establishment featuring adult entertainment, an Asheville, N.C., man began wondering: When did the word adult come to refer to “material not suitable for children”? This is part of a complete episode.
ghost shift n.— «Very low serial numbers, like very low MAC ID addresses, are a hallmark of the “ghost shift,” i.e. the shift that happens very late at night when a rogue worker enters the factory and runs the production machine off...
rehydroxylation dating n.— «Researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Edinburgh, behind the new technique, called it “rehydroxylation dating” to be used on fired clay ceramics like bricks, tile and pottery. […]...
recycled pulsar n.— «Astronomers have long theorized that these superfast stars share their orbit with a companion star from which they leech extra material. The material settles around the pulsar’s middle in a so-called accretion disk...
We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event?