If you say to someone the Spanish equivalent of “you’re giving me green gray hairs” (me sacas canas verdes), it means that person is making you angry. In Japan, the phrase that literally translates as “one red dot”...
Pity the poor typeface designer, always seeing anachronisms in movies and television. Imagine how painful it must be watching a World War II movie only to see a document printed in Snell Roundhand Bold, a font invented in 1972. Here’s typeface...
On a recent episode of Mad Men, a character said “keep me in the loop.” Was that phrase really around in the 1960s? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “In the Loop” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is...
Hello! “A few pickles short of a jar,” “a few peas short of a casserole,” “two French fries short of a Happy Meal”—in this week’s archive episode, we talk about full-deckisms, those clever terms for someone...
An older woman with a knack for finding older men to date? That’s what you call someone with excellent graydar. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Graydar” Martha, how would you describe an older woman who has a...
Enough about the Word of the Year. How about the Word of the Decade? Bailout? Google? Martha and Grant discuss some candidates. Also in this episode, does speaking a different language make you feel different emotions? What did Don Draper on Mad Men...