What’s the word for the smell of rain? It’s petrichor. For years, scientists referred to this evidence of rain as argillaceous odor because it was particularly noticeable near soil with a lot of whitish clay called argil. Then, in the...
Amanda in Melbourne, Australia, provides a much better way to read the rebus about racehorses that we shared in a previous episode. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Racing Rebus Redux” A few weeks ago, I said that a...
Our conversation about women who use the nicknames Gertie or Gert as jokingly affectionate terms for each other, prompted a listener in Melbourne, Australia, to speculate that it’s a nod to Gertrude Lawrence, an English performer who rose to...
Our discussion about finding a word that means both nervous but excited prompted several suggestions from listeners. A listener in Melbourne, Australia, contributed another term used in his part of the world: toey. If you’re toey, you’re...
Taliban union n.— «The speculation follows much earlier talk that the “Taliban Unions” (as the extreme left unions are affectionately known by more moderate industrial organisations) would be looking to behead Boydy at the earliest...
gotcha call n.— «Puerile, cringe-inducing, patronising and crude. These are just a few ways to describe Matt Tilley’s popular gotcha calls on Fox FM.…In the past few years, prank telephone calls to unsuspecting Melburnians have...