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...
In Washington, DC, National Park Service employees refer to Ford’s Theater as FOTH, Peterson House as PEHO, and the Washington Monument as WAMO. This is part of a complete episode.
We all lead busy lives—so are speed reading courses a good idea? Plus, if you hear someone speaking with a British accent, do you tend to assume they’re somehow more intelligent? And some common English surnames tell us stories about life in...
What’s the deal with using the two-letter postal code abbreviations for states, instead of the longer, more formal abbreviations? That is, why write IN for Indiana instead of good old Ind.? A caller is annoyed by U.S. Postal Service...
ruptured duck n.— «On Friday, the congressman brought to the hospital what Miller had earned all those years ago—a campaign medal, a Combat Action ribbon, an Honorable Service lapel pin (known to veterans as “the ruptured...
NORC n.— «As a model for Wayland and Lincoln, BHV is an example of what had recently come to be called “naturally occurring retirement communities,” or “NORCs,” in areas in which a large segment of the residents...