In this episode, books for word lovers, from a collection of curious words to some fun with Farsi. • Some people yell “Geronimo!” when they jump out of an airplane, but why? • We call something that heats air a heater, so why do we call...
Why do we use the term air conditioner to refer a machine for cooling air, when we use the word heater to describe a mechanism for heating air? The term air conditioning was borrowed from the textile industry, where it referred to filtering and...
desklet n.— «While the web browser is a key delivery mechanism for Moonlight and Silverlight, De Icaza is also excited about the possibilities for the desktop as well. Similar to the way that Adobe AIR bring Flash applications to the...
Mottness n.— «Understanding the detailed mechanism for how quantum traffic jams (technically referred to as “Mottness” after the late Sir Neville Mott of Cambridge, UK) impact superconductivity in cuprates may point scientists...
magic Negro n.— «The enabling mechanism of this conversion is our old friend from “50s liberal movies, the Magic Negro, as descended from Sidney Poitier in “The Defiant Ones.” His job is to prevent the white man from...
self-licking ice cream cone n.— «CHAIR THERRIAULT said the account has been characterized as a self-licking ice cream cone in that no one gets to derive pleasure from it. The proposed mechanism is the only way for the state to derive...