We’ve talked before about dog rescue groups’ convention of naming litters of puppies according to a theme. Any idea why a recent litter of pups included Ramp, Slingshot, Kicker, and Flipper? They were all named for terms involved in pinball. This is...
Have you ever offered to foster a dog or cat, but wound up adopting instead? There’s an alliterative term for that. And when you’re on the job, do niceties like “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir” make you sound too formal? Not if it comes naturally. And...
When people who foster rescue animals break down and adopt the animal instead, you’ve happily committed a “foster flunk.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Foster Flunk” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language...
When hiking off-trail, it’s important to keep an eye on where you’ve been as well as where you’re going. Otherwise, you run the risk of what experienced hikers call being “ledged out”, which means you’ve descended to a point where you can’t go any...
shake and bake n.— «Some people lay down on the floor to get below the smoke. Others began shaking open their emergency rescue shelters. Made of a reflective material, the tents are a last resort. Some firefighters ghoulishly refer to them as “the...
windowing n.— «If you want to watch new episodes of “Rescue Me,” which airs on News Corp.‘s FX, you’ve got to be patient, then act fast. New episodes don’t show up on Hulu until eight days after they premiere on the cable channel, but they don’t...
