TagSeason

Fair Game Origins

The term fair game, meaning someone or something that’s a legitimate target for criticism derives from old laws governing the hunting of wildlife. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Fair Game Origins” I always thought the expression...

Butterflies in Your Stomach

If you’re not using a dictionary to look up puzzling words as you read them, you’re missing out on a whole other level of enjoyment. • When you’re cleaning house, why not clean like there’s literally no tomorrow? The term death cleaning refers to...

Old Similes

A simile is a rhetorical device that describes by comparing two different things or ideas using the word like or as. But what makes a good simile? The 1910 book Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, by Yale public-speaking instructor Grenville Kleiser...

Brumate

To brumate, meaning “to hibernate during the winter,” comes from the wintry word brumal. So if you’re tired of using the same old wintry adjectives, try describing the weather as brumal. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Brumate”...