In parts of Pennsylvania, a late-spring dusting of light snow is called onion snow. It’s a reference to the way little green onion shoots are poking through the white. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Onion Snow”...
Our Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a game based on Google searches, or at least what Google thinks you’re searching. For example, what do Elmo, pink, and plant all have in common? Google suggests them, in that order, after you’ve entered the...
That little basket that your strawberries and blueberries come in? It’s called a punnet. Just so you know. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Punnet” For some reason, Martha, I’ve been coming across a lot of...
What’s the difference between hand grenades and pomegranates? Not much when you think about their shape and the fact that they’re both packed tightly with small things, which is why both share a linguistic root with the word granular...
Betty from Christiansburg, Virginia, remembers older women saying a man was “out back resting on his laurels,” and wondered whether it simply meant taking a nap. The phrase comes from the laurel wreaths awarded to victorious athletes and honored...
We have collective nouns for animals, like “a gaggle of geese,” “a pride of lions,” and “an exaltation of larks.” So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a “greasing of palms,” or a...