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...
Chesapeake Bay crabbing has a vocabulary as specialized as a waterman’s gear. Rob, a retired conservationist and biologist near Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast, notes that a male blue crab is a jimmy, while a female may be a sook, silk...
We spoke on the show not long ago about yuppies and dinks, but neglected to mention silks: households with a single income and lots of kids. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Yuppies, Dinks, and Silks” We were talking on...
Shrilk, a new substance made out of shrimp shells and silk, is gaining popularity as a substitute for plastic. We can still pretty much guarantee that, “One word: shrilk,” will never be a classic movie line. This is part of a complete...
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.