Michelle calls from Peoria, Illinois, about a slang term that she and her friend Liz often heard when they were students at Bradley University in the mid-1990s. In those days before modern social media, to squid or to engage in squidding referred to...
Members of our Facebook group are inventing funny names for Greek gods by mispronouncing familiar words with the accent on the wrong syllable, such as Episodes /eh-PIH-suh-deez/, god of continuing stories, and Lemonades /leh-moe-NAH-deez/, god of...
In her essay collection, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments (Bookshop|Amazon), poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil describes the defensive action of the so-called vampire squid. When threatened, this creature...
squid n.— «Grumney’s main goal is to find a safe place to practice, off the streets and away from other motorists. Add to that the challenge of finding those safe spots, finding money and avoiding unsafe riders, who are commonly referred to as...
octosquid n.— «What appears to be a half-squid, half-octopus specimen found off Keahole Point on the Big Island remains unidentified today and could possibly be a new species, said local biologists. The specimen was found caught in a filter in one...

