Erin grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, but when she moved to New York City, she found that people often told her she pronounces Erin as if it’s spelled like the masculine name Aaron. Has Erin been pronouncing her own name wrong all these years? In...
The Pope has several Twitter feeds — and one of them’s entirely in Latin! But how do you adapt an ancient language to the modern world of selfies and hashtags? Plus, pit bull lovers are giving their dogs a linguistic makeover; they’re calling their...
Are the names Aaron and Erin pronounced the same? A bicoastal listener insists they should sound different. A longer discussion about Erin vs. Aaron is on the Straight Dope message board. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Aaron and...
unscramble the eggs v. phr.— «He also noted that U.S. Circuit Court Judges Janice Brown and David Tatel “agreed that this Court has the power to grant relief despite the merger having already taken place.” That could mean either stopping further...
fossil group n.— «All that dark matter makes astronomers think that NGC 1132 grew up through the mergers of many smaller galaxies in an entire group, drawn in by the dark matter. That’s why the galaxy is sometimes called a “fossil group.” However...
supermajor n.— «Only 10 years after “supermajor” entered the oil industry’s lexicon, the term is already showing its age. At the end of 2000, once the oil industry’s mega-mergers were completed, the combined market capitalisation of ExxonMobil...