Steve from Louisville, Kentucky, asks about pipe down, meaning “shush,” and his playful variation pipe up, which he uses with his child instead of phrases like “man up.” The expression pipe down comes from nautical practice: a ship’s bosun (or...
Hot traffic talk! A caller is looking for a word for the point at which you have to reach in order to make it through a stoplight before it turns red.
rain fade n.— «Rain and snow absorb the signal, reducing the quality of the service during storms, an effect the industry calls “rain fade.”» —“With WiMax, Walking on the Wireless Side in Baltimore” by Peter...
pseudolite n.—Gloss: A pseudo satellite. «Airports could, however, have inexpensive pseudolites that would receive GPS signals and broadcast their own, to provide both a stronger signal locally and one that is geographically more...
magicology n.— «Teller was one of the coauthors, and its publication was a signal event in a field some researchers are calling magicology, the mining of stage illusions for insights into brain function.» —“Magic and the Brain:...
surface subway n.— «One thing that Aaron should absolutely be ashamed of himself for is his use of the phrase “surface subway.” Subways and elevated trains speed people along because they’re grade-separated. You just can’t go...