Following up on our earlier conversation about the correct pronunciation of apricot, a listener who grew up among the apricot orchards of California’s Santa Clara Valley says the locals there pronounce it simply cot, and would speak of getting...
An editor with a large database company is tussling with colleagues over the proper use of the words comprise and composed of. She believes the correct usage would be: The alphabet comprises 26 letters or The alphabet is composed of 26 letters...
Nerd used to be a term of derision, connoting someone who was socially awkward and obsessed with a narrow field of interest. Now it’s used more admiringly for anyone who has a passion for a particular topic. Linguists call that type of...
nerd bird n.— «The “nerd bird” lives on, after all. A week after American Airlines said it would cease the San Jose-Austin daily service that bore that nickname, Alaska Airlines said Monday it will inaugurate daily service...
If you work in the software industry, you may already know the term dogfooding, which means “to use one’s own product.” Grant explains how dogfood became a verb. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
lobbycon n.—Gloss: to attend the site of a professional conference, without enrolling or paying entrance fees, for the purpose of meeting with attendees in the site’s public spaces. Note: From lobby + conference. «Some of Silicon...