We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves the Boy Scouts, a baby, a craft project, and a city council meeting. • Instead of reversing...
Diamond dust, tapioca snow, and sugar icebergs — a 1955 glossary of arctic and subarctic terms describes the environment in ways that sound poetic. And a mom says her son is dating someone who’s non-binary. She supports their relationship, but...
Susan from Virginia Beach, Virginia, remembers a toe-counting game from her childhood that goes “This toe tight / this penny white / this toe tizzle / this penny wizzle.” She doesn’t recall the rest and has no idea where it came...
dog robber n.— «Another assignment was to be a “dog robber” which was a military term for a general aide to a superior officer who could be called upon to do a multitude of things.» —“Columnist salutes World War II veterans for...
mocapography n.— «The movie, which opens in November, was filmed in something called “mocapography” using a multitude of digital cameras doing motion capture. Stars Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone and Crispin...
snuse n.— «As historians of the game know, sunflower seeds merely took over where smokeless tobacco, snuff—or “snuse” as it was called in the tiny Swede-dominated Iowa hamlet where I originated—left off. In those days, the boards on the...