A fluke print is the pattern a whale’s tail leaves on the surface of the water. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Fluke Print” I came across a cool word the other day, fluke print. This is the record of all the times I accidentally...
How do you pronounce the name Carnegie? The Scottish industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie pronounced it with an accent on the second syllable, as his namesake, the Carnegie Corporation of New York takes pains to make clear. Good luck...
A Chicago-area listener wonders: When dictionaries go from print to online, are any words removed? What’s the best print dictionary to replace the old one on her dictionary stand? For more about dictionaries and their history, Grant recommends the...
Lord Byron continues to make readers think with these words about language: “But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that which make thousands, perhaps millions, think.” This is part of a complete...
We’ve previously discussed the term “going commando,” meaning “dressed without underwear.” It first appears in print in 1974, but likely goes back further than that. The scene in a 1996 episode of Friends, wherein Joey goes commando in Chandler’s...
If you don’t have anything nice to say, say it like Shakespeare: Thou unhandsome smush-mouthed mush-rump! Thou obscene rug-headed hornbeast! The Shakespeare Insult Generator helps you craft creative zingers by mixing and matching the Bard’s own...
