A woman whose husband speaks Guaraní, Spanish, German, English, Italian, plus a bit of liturgical Hebrew, notices a curious thing happening while he was taking notes during lessons with a rabbi. As he jotted notes in Spanish and Guaraní, he used his...
Twelve-year-old Gagnon from Newport, Oregon, wonders: What’s the difference between a motor and an engine? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Motor v. Engine” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Ganyan, and I’m calling from...
OMG, text messaging! It’s destroying the English language, corrupting young minds, turning us into illiterates. It’s probably shrinking the ozone layer, too. Or is it? In his new book, Txting: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal offers a different...
bike beak n.—Gloss: A frame for carrying bicycles on a motor vehicle. «I had the MTB/Commuter on the bike beak this weekend along with my wife’s bike. I’ve done it plenty of times before but this time, my right front pannier was too close to the...
rodeoing n.— «The conservation officer indicated “rodeoing,” the term used to describe the use of motor vehicles to chase or keep deer moving, does not seem to be as big a problem as it used to be in the immediate area.» —“Deer season opens...
phone boot n.—Gloss: An informal location for recharging a cell phone or paying to place a phone call on another person’s phone. Note: A play on “phone booth” and “boot,” the rear storage compartment of a motor vehicle (US: trunk). «In Abuja, the...
