What sort of language is worthy of being inscribed in stone? A frieze on the James A. Farley Building in New York City is inscribed with Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their...
A Greencastle, Indiana, caller is bothered when his colleagues talk about servicing a customer–and with good reason. Servicing a client has long been associated with prostitution. Serving a client is a better phrase. This is part of a complete...
A customer-service representative from Seattle, Washington, is curious about the phrases people use as a part of leave-taking when they’re finishing a telephone conversation. Linguists who conduct discourse analysis on such conversations say...
If you’re sending out party invitations, what’s the sure-fire way to get ahold of everyone? Mail? Email? Facebook? Texting? Do we even know each other’s phone numbers anymore? Why can’t there just be one system that everyone...
Carolyn from San Diego asks why made-to-measure clothing, such as a Savile Row suit, is called bespoke. The word goes back to bespeak, meaning to discuss, arrange for, request, or order something. Tailors used it for goods made to order, and the...
If you’re on tenterhooks, it means you’re in a state of anxious anticipation or suspense. But what IS a tenterhook? The answer goes back to a 15th-century manufacturing process. Also, you probably have a term for those crumbs that...