The Occupy movement helped to popularize the term do-ocracy, a system of management or government where the people who actually roll up their sleeves and do things get to decide how those things are done. This is part of a complete episode...
After we spoke a couple weeks ago about eponymous laws, a listener who works as a janitor gave us one of his own: Given any two rolls of toilet paper, the larger roll will get smaller before the smaller gets used up. This is part of a complete...
A Turkish proverb about overly optimistic anticipation: Do not roll up your trousers before reaching the stream. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Turkish Proverb for Anticipation” Here’s a Turkish proverb...
Anthony in Salt Lake City remembers using frajo for a cigarette in high school in Pueblo, Colorado, where it worked as classroom code alongside Spanglish terms like fedia for money. The word turns up in studies of Mexican-American youth slang from...
Do you use paper towels or paper towelling? While a listener insists her husband’s wrong for his use of paper towelling, Grant explains how certain nouns take a gerund ending. For example, clothes derive from clothing, and the side of a house...
A Canadian listener’s boyfriend has a special talent. He can remove his socks, roll them up, and throw them across the room into the laundry basket, all with his toes. She says he has toe dexterity, but wonders if the word dexterous can apply...