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...
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...
electro-wetting n.— «In other application fields, so-called liquid lenses have been known for some time. In these, the application of electrical voltages causes a shape change of the liquid lens and therefore a change in its focal length...
downhill adj.— «You’ll often see good trotters whose hindquarters are higher than their withers as viewed from the side. This horse is referred to as being built downhill. For a trotter, going downhill doesn’t mean he’s no longer the...
When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it’s a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.
polocrosse n.— «Some of those who play the game jokingly refer to it as “poor man’s polo,” but polocrosse is much more than that. It’s a game that allows 5- to 10-year olds to compete against 65- to 75-year olds with nobody...