We tend to take the index of a book for granted, but centuries ago, these helpful lists were viewed with suspicion. Some even worried that indexes would harm reading comprehension! A witty new book tells the story. Plus, the Latin term bona fides...
Why do we say we are going to nuke some food when we’re simply heating it in the microwave? The earliest recorded instance of nuking food in this way comes from a 1982 article in the University of North Carolina student newspaper. It’s...
Here's another newsletter from A Way with Words! Who calls baby platypuses "puggles"? Who calls a playground slide a "sliding pond"? Who calls dust bunnies "slut's wool"? You can find out on the brand-new...
“Nuke the fridge”? We kick off our series on contenders for 2008’s “Word of the Year” with a look at this new slang phrase.
nuke and pave v. phr.— «So I decided to install Tiger tonight on a couple of machines—an Install Over on my PowerBook (after using Carbon Copy Cloner to back it up—I’m crazed, not foolish), and a Nuke ‘N Pave on a spare SATA drive in my...