Need a slang term that can replace just about any noun? Try chumpie. If you’re from Philadelphia, you may already know this handy placeholder word. And there’s Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, and … The Bronx — why do we add...
Linda from Wichita, Kansas, thinks we need a word for that closed-mouth little smile we give to strangers on the street — not a friendly Duchenne smile, just a polite acknowledgment of the other person’s existence. She suggests the word smurm...
Duchenne smile n.— «He knows the difference between Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles: one crinkles the orbicularis oculi muscles and the other does not. One is genuine and shows in the eyes; the other mostly involves the mouth and looks...
Greg Pliska has a quiz about chemical names that should exist but don’t. This is part of a complete episode.
happy-clappy adj.— «There again, his departure may not have been quite so abrupt as it at first appears. Of the eight top executives—nine if you include Mickey Mouse—photographed in the company’s happy-clappy annual report, he’s the only...
nerdgasm n.— «When nerds partake in one of these activities, they may have what is commonly referred to as a “nerdgasm.” Contrary to what the name implies, nerdgasms rarely involve the expulsion of bodily fluids. They usually...