Although some people assume that bumbershoot is a Briticism for “umbrella,” this term actually originated in the U.S. It’s likely a combination of umbrella and parachute. A parachute, like an umbrella, is a canopy of silk or silk-like material...
regimental amnesia n.— «Military cases, he acknowledges, bring special problems: the “appalling and needless death of Baha Musa” had exposed the issue of “what is known as regimental amnesia,” in which witnesses were inclined to...
The death of Martha’s favorite cat Typo prompts her to reminisce about him, and about one of her favorite ailurophilic words, chatoyant.
Martha tries to unravel the tangled etymological web that connects gossamer, spiders, geese, and warm weather in a late autumn.
rape the ear v. phr.— «A familiar sound of summer was in the air: a crisply abrasive stripping noise, the sound of husks being torn away from fat cobs of white corn. Two or three shoppers were depositing pale-green husks and shimmery...
gaunch n.— «Gaunch launch.…West Vancouver’s Kathleen Staples recently launched a new line of luxurious machine washable underwear called Staples. Staples designs them in soft, stretchy knitted silk and included are regular panties...