Debbie from Alliance, Ohio, asks why hoot shows up in expressions such as she’s a hoot, that’s a hoot, and “I don’t give a hoot.” The cheerful sense, meaning a funny person or a good time, is likely tied to hootenanny, a casual party or impromptu...
Stabby describes an urge to stab something, or more often, a comic, benign way to say you’re intensely irritated, as when the internet goes out or traffic tests your patience. The adjective has had a recent vogue in informal writing, but it isn’t...
You’ve just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you’d the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that...