The new book Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution that Made China Modern (Bookshop|Amazon) is a fascinating history about the colorful characters who attempted to reinvent the complicated Chinese script to adapt it for use with modern...
Grant recommends a book for young readers by Rita Williams-Garcia. It’s called One Crazy Summer, and it’s about three girls who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. This is part of a complete...
Hi, ho! Lots of “Behind The Scenes” news from “A Way with Words” this week, but first: In this week’s episode, we discuss “burrito babies” and other college slang. Also, “overegging the pudding,”...
home meal replacement n.— «In America, though, where eating out is a way of life, the supermarket dinner—“home meal replacement” as they call it in the business—has yet to catch on.» —“Britain tries to stir a fast-food revolution in...
scholasticide n.— «Now in Gaza…we see the policy more clearly than ever—this “scholasticide.” The Israelis know nothing about who we really are, while we study and study them. But deep down they know how important...
petrodictator n.— «If oil were $50 a barrel, the $50 tax needed to achieve the price floor would go to America’s government for fuel energy programs, not to foreign “petrodictators,” as he calls them.» —“Say you want a...