Is the term “ladies” an offensive way to refer to a group of women? As a recent discussion on Ask Metafilter revealed, many interpret it as outdated, condescending, or patronizing. The hosts conclude it all depends on context. This is...
The Google Books Corpus from Mark Davies at Brigham Young University tags words in Google Books with their parts of speech, so you can search how words really combine. For example, suitcase often follows battered, making battered suitcase a cliché...
Some novels grab you from the get-go. “I am an invisible man.” “Call me Ishmael.” “The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting.” Martha...
Mottness n.— «Understanding the detailed mechanism for how quantum traffic jams (technically referred to as “Mottness” after the late Sir Neville Mott of Cambridge, UK) impact superconductivity in cuprates may point scientists...
fox hole n.— «Fox Hole: area beneath desk where telephone calls can take place peacefully.» —“Revealed: how to chat up a senior clerk” by Nina Goswami TheLawyer.com July 13, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued...
driller
n.— «Driller: loud ringing phone.» —“Revealed: how to chat up a senior clerk” by Nina Goswami TheLawyer.com July 13, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)