How do sports idioms translate to other languages in cultures where the sport isn’t popular? This is part of a complete episode.
Dude! We’re used to hearing the word “dude” applied to guys. But increasingly, young women use the word “dude” to address each other. Grant and Martha talk about linguistic research about the meaning and uses of...
sporno n.—Gloss: Images of sportspeople that are similar to or evocative of pornography. Note: sport(s) + porno «Dolce & Gabbana’s latest sporno campaign for their Intimo men’s underwear line (above), employing eager, wide-shouldered...
Martha muses about the language of falconry, and in the process, reveals the origins of several words and phrases in one fell swoop.
backyard syndrome n.— «The early-March snowstorm that creamed the Eastern seaboard largely missed Vermont’s big skiing areas. But resort operators were delighted nevertheless, because the storm whetted the appetite of all those coastal...
Hockey mom, mavericky, snow machines, and—how could we forget that other memorable phrase from the 2008 presidential campaign?—lipstick on a pig. Some new and not-so-new terms leapt onto the national stage during Gov. Sarah Palin‘s run for the...