Rihanna’s hit “Umbrella” may not have had the same ring if she’d referred to being “under my bumbershoot.” Nonetheless, bumbershoot, bumberell, brolly, and bumbersol, among others, are all
Is it free reign or free rein? Ruling or riding? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Free Reign vs. Free Rein” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is David in Glen Arbor, Michigan. I have a question for you. All right. My...
weeper n.—Gloss: Related to the meaning of weeper ‘a hole or pipe in a wall to allow water to run off.’ «Six inches of rain between Friday night and Sunday afternoon proved too much for track crews. Crews fought a day-long battle with the wet track...
Obamamania, Obamabot, Obamathon, Obamamentum— the list of variations on the name “Obama” goes on and on. Is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter”? And what does it mean when someone says, “Well, that was odder than...
car-breaker n.— «There is a speed-breaker on the street, right in front of our house. In our neighborhood in Nazimabad, they are commonly called car-breakers because of their size. Rain water was running down the street and the street looked like a...
flake n.— «I took a large flake of hay and laid it on some rails which I had fixed for that purpose, and creeped under it, to shelter myself, in some small measure, from the rain.» —by Stephen Burroughs Memoirs of the Notorious Stephen...