After our conversation about mini-seasons between the usual winter, spring, summer, and fall, listeners share other examples: stick season in Vermont and mud season in Michigan. The Old English word for “February,” solmonath, may derive from words...
spray n.— Note: Describes the same event as this citation for pooled spray. «Instead of the hoped-for podium to podium event, the two men put on an unconvincing show of friendship sitting stiffly side by side before an unlit fire in the Oval...
two-centimetre n.— «“You don’t come here in a two-centimetre (slang for a micro-mini).”…It was here on Sunday that taxi drivers and hawkers joined forces to teach one young woman “a lesson.” Nwabisa Ngcukana, 25, was stripped, sexually assaulted...
mini-bus n.— «Their strategy is to ram through what Republican aides are calling a “mini-bus”—a precursor to a much larger omnibus spending bill that could come down the pike later this year encompassing the remaining appropriations bills. By...
mini-med n.— «There, employers with less than 25 workers—and at least half of those workers earning less than $41,000—can offer what some insurers call a “mini-med” plan. Premiums can come in at less than $100 per month.» —“Healthcare coverage for...
namie n.— «“Eighty years from now, the names we choose will be the sound of a generation, the stamp of an era.” The annual list was the brainchild of a Social Security actuary who hoped to bring more citizens to the agency’s Web site. It has fueled...

