The political terms liberal and libertarian may look similar, but they have very different meanings. Both stem from Latin liber, “free,” but the word liberal entered English hundreds of years before libertarian. This is part of a...
Have a question about objective pronouns? Whom ya gonna call? Wait–is that right? Or would it be “who ya gonna call”? “Whom” may be technically correct, but insisting on it can get you called an elitist. It’s...
talk and die syndrome n.— «Doctors have suggested that Richardson suffered from something called “talk and die” syndrome, in which bleeding that occurs between the skull and brain stem is delayed. Patients seem fine after the...
barefoot hole n.— «In the Cabin Creek area, for example, we drill a well to the top of a formation we’re targeting and then we case it off.…Then we drill into the targeted formation what is known as a “barefoot hole.”...
slip stem adj.— «Most muskmelons are what is called slip stem. That is, when the melon is ripe, a very gentle tug on the fruit will instantly detach it from the stem.» —“Master gardener answers Frequently asked...
cherry-stem v.— «If a dead-end road extends into another roadless area, the wilderness area boundary is sometimes drawn so as to exclude the road but include the land on both sides of the road. This is called a “cherry-stem,”...