sickler n.— «On a matter of semantics, the use of nomenclature derived from the names of diseases, such as “diabetics,” “epileptics” and, in this case, “sicklers,” may be viewed as pejorative and emphasise the disease rather than the humanity of...
Proverbs pack great truths into a few well-chosen words, no matter which language you speak. Check out this one from Belize: “Don’t call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river.” And this truism from Zanzibar: “When two elephants...
good bank/bad bank n.— «American International Group (AIG): NY Posts reports that AIG is considering forming a separate company to hold billions in securities that have dogged its balance sheet for the past several quarters. According to sources...
age-doping n.— «Under pressure to address “age-doping,” the IOC asked the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) on Friday to re-open the Federation’s previous investigation into the matter of the girls’ ages. Prior to the competition, when...
In this episode, Martha and Grant honor winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, those wacky awards for weird academic research, and they help a caller decipher a puzzling word from a personals ad: what does paratereseomaniac mean?
Welcome to another issue of the A Way with Words newsletter! If you weren't listening to the radio this weekend, you now have another chance to hear a discussion of the pronunciation of "eco" in eco-friendly, last-ditch vs. last...