In a lovely essay on the shared experience of theater audiences, Wesley Morris, critic at large for The New York Times, memorably describes weeping in the dark with fellow audience members as offering “applause with mucus and salt.” This...
The phrase salt of the earth describes someone who is essential and pure of heart, a reference to the biblical Sermon on the Mount. To salt the earth usually means to render the ground useless, whether metaphorically or literally. This is part of a...
The Latin word sal, or “salt,” inspired the word salarium, the pay soldiers received to buy salt. This in turn led to the English word salary. Well into the 17th century, salt remained a valuable commodity, but today if you’re not...
Vanita from Dallas grew up in India calling the table container for salt and pepper a salt-and-pepper cellar, where many Americans would say salt-and-pepper shaker. A saltcellar (yes, usually spelled as one word with no space) is a vessel for salt...
If you’re making a salary, be grateful that it’s paid out in dollars and not salt. In antiquity, salt was a valuable commodity, and the term salary comes from the Latin salarium, the portions of salt paid to Roman soldiers. This is part...
eatertainment n.— «In our society, eating, especially eating “fun” foods that are high in fats, salt, and sugar, is one of the cheapest (at least in immediate costs) forms of recreation. They referred to it as...