Jenny from Portland, Oregon, is fascinated by the language of falconers. In falconry, the word bate means “to flap the wings impatiently.” A similarly spelled verb, which has nothing to do with falconry, figures in the expression to wait...
The city of Portland, Oregon, where Martha and Grant recently took their live show, owes its name to a coin toss. The city’s founders, Asa Lovejoy of Boston, Massachusetts, and Frances Pettygrove of Portland, Maine, each wanted to name it for...
A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statement that’s fraudulent or bogus, but all the words she can think of sound old-fashioned. Is there a better term than malarkey, poppycock, or rubbish? Also, listeners step up to help...
howling survey n.— «Every so often, they would stop their truck, step out, and howl. The technique, known as a howling survey, is one way for wildlife officials to make contact with and count the number of wolves in an area.» —“New...
Brookings effect n.— «Brookings, just north of the California border along the Oregon coast, is known for its sometimes very un-coastal weather that has come to be called the “Brookings effect.”» —“Brookings Oregon bakes...
A recent college graduate from Portland, Oregon, calls to ask about a term popular on her campus. She and her classmates use sketchy to mean “creepy, shady, possibly dangerous,” as in “a sketchy part of town” or “that...