For 341 years, the poets laureate of Britain have all been male. That just changed with the appointment of Britain’s new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her work has been described as “dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz called “States of MIND,” in which the answers are words formed by combining the postal abbreviations of states. Try this clue: “A word that refers to your knowledge or intellectual ability. The...
strolling supper n.— «I “get” the fact that a “strolling supper” is another term for “buffet,” but I have a question: what happens if the “strolling” supper gets up and leaves...
You’ve seen people indicate emphasis by putting a period after each of several words, and capitalizing the first letter of each word. A Michigan listener wonders how this stylistic trick arose. Her question was prompted by this description of...
We asked you to tell us about odd regional food names, and boy did you oblige! Martha reads some of your letters about whoopie pies, hot tamales, pretzel salad, coolers, and the frappe vs. milkshake controversy.
switch hitter n.— «Recipients of Obama’s summer mailing include many lobbyists who are called “switch hitters” in political parlance—contributors to lawmakers of both parties who seek to open Capitol Hill doors to them on a...