Artie in New Bern, North Carolina, wonders why a poker hand consisting of a pair of aces and a pair of eights is called a dead man’s hand. Legend has it that when Wild Bill Hickock was killed during a poker game in 1876 in the Dakota...
A voicemail from a Hawaii listener leads to a discussion of the correct pronunciation for Aegis, a naval combat system. Is it EE-jiss or AY-jiss? In Greek myth, an aegis was a protective shield, and today, to be under the aegis means to be...
A New York City man wonders if there’s any truth to the story that New Yorkers say they stand on line, as opposed to in line, because of lines painted on the floor at Ellis Island. Although such lines are useful for managing large queues, the...
globster n.— «Many monster enthusiasts believe that huge, unidentified masses that occasionally wash up on beaches throughout the world are sea monsters. These finds, often called globsters, are obviously flesh, yet have decayed so badly...
marked to make believe adj.— «For example, a financial asset traded on multiple exchanges might be considered a Level 1 market. At the other end of the spectrum, “Level 3,” no ready market exists to value assets or liabilities. A...
mark to myth n.— «Banking auditors are watching carefully to ensure bank valuations based on in-house mathematical models are not, in the phrase coined by Warren Buffett, “mark to myth.” In the backwash of the credit crisis, U...