Our conversation about bang out sick and bang in sick, both meaning to “call one’s employer to say they’re not coming in to work,” prompted a response from historian Judith Flanders, who notes that in the UK, there’s a...
In British English, the exercise known as push-ups in the United States goes by the name press-ups. The Spanish term is lagartijas, a lagartija being a small lizard that sometimes moves in a similar way. The English word alligator comes from the...
Is there an express in espresso? Nope. Cafe espresso is literally “pressed-out coffee.” So the name espresso has nothing to do with the speed with which espresso is made. The term express, on the other hand, as in express train, derives...
Why do newspaper reporters end articles with the number 30 or the three-pound-sign symbol ###? No one knows for sure, although that never stopped journalists from debating the origin of this way of ending a story. The practice arose in a bygone era...
Two more expressions that characterized 2009: El Stiffo and “drive like a Cullen.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Drive Like a Cullen” Martha, how’s your driving? It’s not bad. Not bad. Do you...
Martha and Grant discuss some other Word of the Year candidates, including hockey mom and hypermiling. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hypermiling” Hockey mom will probably be another big word of the year choice for a...