Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day. Also, when you’re scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squiggly...
This week’s Slang This! contestant, John Schwaller, president of the State University of New York at Potsdam, ponders the possible meanings of the terms donk and “Baltimore wrench.” He offers his own favorite slang term...
Busharraf n.— «Polls showed Musharraf’s popularity was in free fall at 15 per cent. Some 64 per cent of Pakistanis said they viewed the president’s backers in Washington as “the single biggest threat” to the nation. And people...
The election’s still months away, but a caller in Okinawa, Japan wonders how the husband of a female U.S. president should be addressed if the husband himself is a former president. The hosts rule out “First Laddie.” This is part...
LBJ rule n.—Gloss: a law that says a politician currently holding an elected office can run simultaneously for re-election to that office and for election to a new office. Note: LBJ refers to President Lyndon Baines Johnson. «Using what...
BOPSA n.— «In media terms, however, this isn’t the most riveting television. In fact, they have a name for it. It’s called “BOPSA” (Bunch Of People Sitting Around). In this case, sitting around and voting for our next...