An ornithologist says there’s a growing movement to change the name of a pink-footed bird currently called the flesh-footed shearwater. The movement reflects a growing understanding that using flesh-colored for “pink” fails to acknowledge the full...
Kathy in Jacksonville, North Carolina, likes to urge her kids to go outside and play, but is searching for a word or phrase that denotes “the out of doors” without referencing an edifice. Some possibilities: al fresco from Italian, for “in the fresh...
rap v.—Gloss: short for “rappel.” «He kept falling, flailing and failing to make the moves, eventually just hanging on the rope and begging me to lower him down to the last ledge. He was out of steam; we rapped back to the ground.» —“A Match Made...
biobigotry n.— «Biobigotry is different from the impulse to avoid organisms that can hurt or sicken us, like yellow jackets, mosquitoes or poison ivy, or to fend off traditional household pests like mice and roaches. Rather, it is the dislike we...
nar n.—Gloss: snow. Note: The long form is “nar nar.” «Come winter, when (or if) snow blankets the temperate zone, the Wesleyan Ski Team will hit the slopes to “shred the nar,” as they say in ski jargon.» —“Students take to the outdoors for sports...
flake n.— «Other useful options include automatic waterers (indoor and outdoor), rubber flooring, automatic flake hay dispensers.» —“Good horsekeeping Tips for building a barn to house your horses” by Karen Martin Arkansas Democrat Gazette Oct. 14...