Responding to our conversation about the word chat, meaning “the gravelly residue of mines,” Isabella from Marquette, Michigan, reports that where she lives, in the state’s Upper Peninsula, such runoff is commonly called slag. She uses some made-up...
The term “so long,” meaning “goodbye,” does not come from the Arabic word salaam. Its origin is German. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “So Long!” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, it’s Clayton from Mesa, Arizona. Clayton...
Do our toes have names? Mother Goose and Scandinavian nursery rhymes gave us variants of Tom Pumpkin, Long Larkin, Betty Pringle, Johnny Jingle, and Little Dick. Sounds cooler than big toe, no? A whole lot more shared here. This is part of a...
biking n. an (all-you-can-eat) food buffet or smorgasbord. Editorial Note: Rendered in Japanese as バイキング and usu. Romanized as baikingu. Etymological Note: From English Viking, referring to the Scandinavian origins of the Swedish smörgåsbord...
