Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...
The word hipster might seem recent, but it actually originated in the 1930s when it referred to jazz aficionados who were in the know about the best nightclubs and cool music. Speaking of music, a professional musician reports that it’s...
Martha recommends Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen, a deeply personal, exuberant account of falling in love with both ancient and modern Greek by Mary Norris, former copy editor for The New Yorker. Norris shares several intriguing modern...
track v.— «The district police chief’s office, on the third floor of the police compound, is dimly lit; sandbags block the windows. Norris goes over the plan, telling Col. Anan, the chief, how many polling sites his police need to protect...
blue-liner n.— «Along with Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, Blake would give them an unprecedented three Norris Trophy-winning blue-liners and the right to call themselves Cup favourites.» —“Blake has taste for Ducks” by Bob...
super-cell n.— «The storms contained numerous rotating thunderstorms, commonly known as super-cells, which spawned a number of funnel clouds across Southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.» —“Funnel clouds...