Poet James Merrill once compared the voice of Alice B. Toklas to “a viola at dusk.” This is part of a complete episode.
Grant recommends two blogs about writing well and copyediting: Merrill Perlman writes The Language Corner blog for the Columbia Journalism Review, and Philip B. Corbett of the New York Times reports on actual grammatical and usage mistakes in that...
witching day n.— «That rumor proved false too. But is it just a coincidence that the rumor spread on a Friday known as a “quadruple witching day”—when lots of Merrill Lynch options were expiring?» —“Psst! Hear the Rumor of the Day...
pure play n.— «While subsidiaries of multiline insurers like UnitedHealth (Charts, Fortune 500) and WellPoint (Charts, Fortune 500) are still the biggest players in Medicaid, the “pure plays,” as they’re called, have grown...
front-run v. phr.— «Prosecutors allege day traders would buy or sell shares in advance of anticipated price movements, generating more than $600,000 in profits between January 2002 and February 2004. Mahaffy said no one ever told him they...
squawk box v. phr.— «A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker on trial for selling access to his firm’s “squawk box’ denied allowing clients to eavesdrop on internal orders at the firm, though he said he believed they were entitled...