A New York City man who grew up speaking both English and Tagalog reports an experience common to bilinguals: his behavior and emotions tend to shift when he’s speaking one language as opposed to the other. Two good books on the topic: Life...
If you’re inappropriately focused on the minutiae of a project instead of the bigger picture, you’re said to be bike-shedding. Grant talks about that modern slang term and Martha discusses a word that goes way back in time, right back to...
It’s likely America’s greatest linguistic export: O.K. A caller raised in the Philippines is curious about its origin. The hosts give him an answer, and also point out a familiar word in English that derives from the caller’s...
swardspeak n. a cant spoken by Filipino gay and transvestite men. Editorial Note: Swardspeak is a mix of Tagalog (Pilipino), Spanish, English, and other languages spoken in the Philippines and dates back to at least as early as the 1970s. Swardspeak...
boondocking n. living without conveniences such as municipal electricity or water, indoor plumbing, or grocery stores, especially when camping with a recreational vehicle;roughing it. Editorial Note: Other variations on to boondock, according to the...