The sideways figure-eight shape used as the infinity symbol is a lemniscate (lem-NIS-kit or lem-NIS-kayt). The word comes from a Greek word meaning “ribbon” or “bow,” a nod to the shape’s resemblance to a tied ribbon. It also turns up in...
If you know someone with a 20th birthday coming up, you’ll want to tuck this word away in your pocket: vigesimal. It means “having to do with the number 20,” and comes from Latin vigesimus, or “twentieth,” a relative of both vente and vignt, the...
Following up on our conversation about indefinite hyperbolic numerals like forty-eleven and zillion, we discuss humpty-twelve. Another slang term used to denote a large quantity is telephone numbers, which can be applied to “an excessive amount of...
Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There’s an alliterative term for that. And when you’re on the job, do niceties like “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir” make you sound too formal? Not if it comes naturally. And...
How do you make the number one disappear? (You can do it if you add a letter.) This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Number One Riddle” I have another riddle for you. Okay. How do you make the number one disappear? How do you put the L...
Our discussion of eponymous laws prompted Peg Brekel of Casa Grande, Arizona, to send us one based on her years of experience in a pharmacy, where she had to keep minding the counter even during her lunch break. Peg’s Law: The number of customers...