Janet in Montgomery, Alabama, reports that a day after she had surgery on her hand, the wound burst open, and a doctor noted that her wound dehisced. She’s used to hearing dehisce used in botany to mean the splitting of a plant structure to release...
Hey, podcast listener! Martha here with a special minicast of A Way with Words. Today I want to tell you a story — and make a request for you to support A Way with Words. The story is about a guy named Luigi. He was born in 1737 in Bologna, Italy...
The old Brooklyn Dodger Roy Campanella really knew how to set the soup outside! A baseball fan recalls this overheard phrase from a game in the 60s between the Cardinals and the Dodgers, when Campy smacked one over the fence. Grant speculates this...
break the ton v. phr.— «When I was a kid we all drove muscle cars with enormous hemis. The term “breakin’ the ton” was popular slang. You broke the ton when 100 mph was significantly exceeded and sustained.» —“High Speed...
dinosaur training n.— «He talked about something called dinosaur training. He wanted the offensive linemen to shed fat and put on muscle, he wanted them lifting heavy objects, literally moving big furniture so they wouldn’t collapse with...
body babbling n.— «To begin the learning process, the UC San Diego researchers directed the Einstein robot head (Hanson Robotics’ Einstein Head) to twist and turn its face in all directions, a process called “body babbling.” During...
