Olivia, a sixth-grader in Somerville, New Jersey, says she and her classmates were flummoxed by a word on their spelling-bee study list: xylyl. It’s a term from chemistry, referring to a group of atoms derived from a liquid called xylene. One...
A Somerville, Massachusetts, listener wonders about a phrase her family uses, freeze your caboogies off. Its origin is unknown, and it’s unclear whether it’s related to another term for the backside, bahookie. This is part of a...
In this week’s slang quiz, a member of the National Puzzlers’ League from Somerville, Massachusetts, tries to guess the meaning of bottle room and shred, the latter as used in the context of snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing. This...
cliché-verre n.— «Photographer K.E. Duffin used a technique called cliché-verre to create her winning photograph called “Anatomy of a Hero.”» —“State’s Cultural Council rewards six Somerville...
keyless adj.— «Activists here began organizing a City Hall summit to confront what they saw as the swelling population of street people, those living in shelters, and keyless men and women crashing on friends’ couches.» —“Summit In...