If you’re driving and need to turn 180 degrees, you make a U-turn. But what do you make if you speak a language that doesn’t include the letter “U”? If you’re a Hindi speaker, what do you call wearing a V-neck sweater in an A-frame house? This is...
pencil top n.— «Most commercial companies over-prune palms leaving fronds with a V-shape referred to as a “hurricane cut.” Constant removal of these leaves will result in a condition referred to as “pencil top” (trunk narrows just below fronds)...
jamiton n.— «We’ve all been there—stuck in traffic, inching along, running late and getting angry when suddenly everyone starts moving. Just like that, the road clears. No flashing lights, no mangled cars, no clue to suggest what went wrong...
dog n.— «Programming and films on digital TV channels are, he complains, routinely disfigured by irrelevant and unnecessary captions and graphic devices and, in particular, by “dogs” (digital on-screen graphics) or “bugs” identifying the channel...
snowroller n.— Note: Also as two words: “snow roller.” «Several days ago, several hundred rather large snowballs appeared on Lake Eyak over night. The next day I received phone calls and e-mails from curious Cordovans asking what they were and how...
bug n.— «Programming and films on digital TV channels are, he complains, routinely disfigured by irrelevant and unnecessary captions and graphic devices and, in particular, by “dogs” (digital on-screen graphics) or “bugs” identifying the channel...