When Mandy of San Antonio, Texas, was living in South Korea, her Newfoundland friend would call and ask, What are you at? and follow with I’ll come where you’re to. The phrasing is a well-known bit of Newfoundland English that means something like...
How and why do words from one language find their way into another? Vietnamese, for instance, includes many words borrowed or adapted from French, a vestige of colonialism. For example, the Vietnamese word for “train station,” ga, comes...
Daylighting refers to uncovering built-over rivers and streams and reintegrating them into the urban landscape. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Daylighting Rivers” A century or so ago when cities were getting built up...
Selfie has turned out to be a word that keeps on giving. We have dronies, or selfies taken with drones; healfies, wherein fitness enthusiasts photograph themselves; and now the selfie stick, the most revolutionary selfie-taking device since arms...
Eric in Plano, Texas, asks about skosh, his father’s word for a small amount, as in just a skosh more tea. The word comes from Japanese sukoshi, meaning small or little. English speakers often heard the first vowel as nearly silent and shortened...
officetel n.— «I live in what’s known in Korea as an “officetel” which is basically a building full of bachelor apartments with several businesses running out of the lower levels.» —“A photo every day? Why the hell not...
