Is it time to replace the expression “the mentally ill”? Some argue the term unfairly stigmatizes a broad range of people. Also, the winter sport of… skitching, which involves snowy roads, leather shoes — and car bumpers...
For language lovers, it’s like New Year’s, Fourth of July, and the Super Bowl all rolled into one: The brand-new online edition of the Dictionary of American Regional English. Martha and Grant explain what all the fuss is about. Plus...
News reports that the makers of Scrabble were changing the rules to allow proper names left some purists fuming. The rumors were false, but they got Grant thinking about idiosyncratic adaptations of the game’s rules. Also this week, the...
canning n.— «Marilyn Frano, Weymouth’s substance abuse prevention coordinator, said she came up with the idea after she heard that Weymouth High School athletes were asked to collect change—a practice known as “canning”—outside liquor...
sputtering n.— «Metal ion creation in the semiconductor industry relies on a technique called sputtering. Traditional sputtering relies on a gas such as argon being heated to plasma and then contained by a magnetic field between a layer...
bounce house n.—Gloss: An inflatable structure in and on which children can climb and jump. Note: Also often called “bouncy house.” «Party rental agencies, too, are trying to please customers by discounting their inflatable...