Fess up: do you have a pet name for your car? How about your computer? Martha and Grant discuss the urge to give nicknames to inanimate objects in our lives. Also, why do we speak of vetting a political candidate? And what in the world is a zoo...
Here’s a question more and more same-sex couples face when starting a family: What names will our child call us? “Mommy and Mama”? “Mommy and Jane?” Maybe a made-up name? An Ohio woman and her female partner are...
wine track n.— «That’s because Maryland, said Thomas Schaller, associate professor of political science at University of Maryland Baltimore County, has become a “wine track” state, similar to California, New Jersey and...
“If I had my druthers…” A former Texan says the youngsters he works with in his adopted home of Ohio don’t understand this expression meaning “If I had my way.” He wants to know its origin. If you still...
peanut butter approach n.—Gloss: Focusing tax breaks or government stimulus money thinly across a lot of beneficiaries instead of targeting those areas in need of the most help. «A number of speakers Wednesday called for an end to Ohio’s...
scab n.— «Cook also said in some areas, notably on Warren and Fifth streets, when companies would need to replace bricks, they would take the brick out and pour in concrete, making what is known as a scab.» —“What are your streets...