Some gems in this week’s mailbag: Following up on our conversation with a caller hoping to promote less-violent alternatives to the phrase kill two birds with one stone, a listener who grew up in India wrote in with one from her native...
Alex in Bishop, California, works with an environmental nonprofit that partners with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. When his team goes out into the field for several days on assignment, they refer to that stretch of time as a...
In kayakers’ slang, a park and play is a part of a river where you park your vehicle closer to a river and enter the water to paddle around a particular water feature, then paddle back to your launch spot rather than continue downstream. If...
Our Quiz Master John Chaneski leads us on a puzzle hunt, starting in a world capital that’s a homophone for a type of music or food. (Hint: This Asian capital hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics.) This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Charlotte in Alexandria, Virginia, has noticed a bit of National Park Service shorthand in Washington, D.C.: some attractions shrink to the first two letters of each word. Ford’s Theater becomes FOTH, Peterson House across the street is PEHO, and...
Jennifer from San Diego giggles whenever she hears per se. She first noticed it when a character in a South Park episode used the phrase constantly. Some people informally spell it per say, but the Latin se means itself. So per se means “in itself”...