This week on A Way with Words: Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. • Some restaurants now advertise that they sell “clean” sandwiches. But that doesn’t mean they’re condiment-free or the...
Dan in San Diego wondered whether the mare in nightmare is a horse. It isn’t. In old folklore, a mare, German Mahr, was a goblin or demon thought to press on a sleeper’s chest and bring terrifying dreams. The same heavy image turns up in Spanish...