Eudora Welty dropped the phrase man in the moon a couple times in her short story “Why I Live at the P.O.” The phrase doesn’t really reference the moon itself; it simply adds emphasis. Incidentally, seeing the image of a face or human figure in the...
What does dog hair have to do with hangover cures? Also, where’d we ever get a word like “dude”? And what’s the word for when unexpected objects form a recognizable image, like a cloud that looks like a bunny, or the image of Elvis in a grilled...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words. Over the weekend we talked more about political language, "hair of the dog," "a fish rots from the head down," and "pareidolia." We also posted another language...
Feel like having a little “hair of the dog”? Grant and Martha explain what dog hair has to do with hangover cures. And what do you call it when random objects form a recognizable image, like a cloud resembling a bunny, or the image of Elvis in a...
Good news if you’ve wondered about a word for recognizable images composed of random visual stimuli—that image of Elvis in your grilled-cheese sandwich, for example. It’s pareidolia. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pareidolia” I...
