Grant answers a listener’s email question about the meaning of the musical phrase chicky-wah-wah. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow” Martha, we got an interesting voicemail from Misty in upstate New York. She’s...
blind hoistway n.— «He concluded that he must be on the thirteenth floor, and that, this being an express elevator, there was no egress from the shaft anywhere for many stories up or down. (Such a shaft is known as a blind hoistway.)» —“Up And Then...
jumbo n.— «The Red Lake gold mine covers 55,000 acres of western Ontario, amid mountains, creeks, and pine forests populated by wild caribou. In its main shaft, which plunges 1,023m into the earth, drilling machines called jumbos extract gold ore...
fudge n.— «This remarkable time record was rendered possible by a process known as “fudging.” The type lines set by the linotype-telegraph operator are wider at the top that at the base, so that when placed together they form the section of a small...
pamper pole n. a tall shaft of wood or metal up which a person climbs and then stands in order to grab a trapeze and then swing away. Editorial Note: Often used as a confidence-building exercise. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
pogie n.— «Your hands can be kept comfortably warm with neoprene gloves or pogies. Pogies attach directly to the paddle shaft, forming a water-resistant cocoon. Your bare hand slips into the pogie and grabs the paddle shaft without any barrier to...