Eleemosynary is the title of a play by Lee Blessing. The play celebrates this and other unusual words, including sortilege, charivari, ungulate, favonian, and logodaedaly. Martha saw a production at San Diego’s Moxie Theater, and takes the...
jumps n.pl.— «You look down again and the water’s boiling all around you. And you begin to see the culprits: white bass. They’re murdering a school of baitfish, and those baitfish are going airborne in a frantic attempt to escape. The...
Chickens give more than eggs, meat, and feathers—they give language!
interstitial reading n.— «For a day filled with IMs and music and slathered over with email, one opportunity for publishers is to promote interstitial reading, reading that is done in the brief moments between other engagements, whether...
doga n.— «In Seattle, Brenda Bryan specializes in “doga,” or doggie yoga, developing her own technique, known as “barking buddha doga.” Combining hatha yoga—poses include the “woofing warrior one”—with...
financial incest n.—Gloss: Telling one’s children about family financial affairs in such a way or to such a degree that they learn too much and become overly concerned. «While experts say the current financial crisis is a good way...