Decisions by dictionary editors, wacky wordplay, and Walt Whitman’s soaring verse. How do lexicographers decide which historical figures deserve a mention or perhaps even an illustration in the dictionary? The answer changes with the times. •...
The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He says that using words like “leader” and “follower” actually works better than using gendered...
The Humans of New York series of portraits and quotations includes one subject’s wise observation about how a single offhand remark can change a life. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Offhand Remarks Have Lasting Effects” You’re...
Martha and Grant discuss why some puns work and others don’t. Martha recommends John Pollack’s observation in The Pun Also Rises describing how “for a split second, puns manage to hold open the elevator doors of language and meaning as the brain...
witness mark n.— «When recovering evidence for further observation, preservation of any dirt or grease mark on samples can be vital if critical evidence of its past history is not to be lost. Such trace evidence (witness marks) can help in...
finger trouble n.— «The same quality has been designated “systematic diligence” elsewhere. Some radar observers exhibit “finger trouble” in tuning…» —by Stuart W. Cook Psychological research on radar observer training , 1947. (source: Double...