Chris calls from Nassawadox, Virginia, to say that on their second date his girlfriend used the term pine shadows for what he calls pine needles. Particularly in Virginia, the terms pine shadows and pine shatters denote those long thin leaves that...
When plucked from a garden catalog and scattered on a page, the names of flower, fruit, and vegetable seeds can lead to surprisingly sexy poetry. This is part of a complete episode.
In certain ancient traditions, storks were associated with kindness and family devotion. The Hebrew word for this leggy bird is chasidah, meaning “the kindly one,” from chesed, or “loving kindness.” Storks were also highly...
This week on A Way with Words: Restaurant jargon, military slang, and modern Greek turns of phrase. • Some restaurants now advertise that they sell “clean” sandwiches. But that doesn’t mean they’re condiment-free or the...
The phrase ignorance gone to seed invokes an agricultural metaphor. Picture a field that is so far gone it’s no longer flowering and is now beyond the point of further cultivation. This is part of a complete episode.
frost seeding n.— «With the temperature change we see from day to night, the ground actually contracts and opens up, developing cracks and holes. So, by putting small seed on the ground, the frost actually works the seed into the soil...
