fannings n.pl.— Note: Likely related to the sense of “fan” which means “to winnow; to separate chaff from wheat,” derived from the noun for the device used in such a technique. «After the tea leaves are taken off the drying racks, the tiny broken...
Time to solve another linguistic mystery. You’re in a restaurant. You overhear a conversation at the next table. The woman says to her friend, “You know, I just love the taste of joe floggers.” And her dining companion replies enthusiastically, “Joe...
This past weekend on "A Way with Words," we mulled over whether part of the recession-busting bailouts the government is proposing should be targeted at reviving the Federal Writers' Project of the 1930s. Get a taste of that, and more...
deer fast n.— «She recalled how the boy began to cry because he was so thirsty, but he still refused water. Many Iraqi parents try out what is known as “deer fasting,” probably based on a belief that deer eat less during the summer, to get...
blue-liner n.— «Along with Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, Blake would give them an unprecedented three Norris Trophy-winning blue-liners and the right to call themselves Cup favourites.» —“Blake has taste for Ducks” by Bob Duff Windsor...
dry meat n.—Gloss: a euphemism for bushmeat. «It takes strategic thinking to find monkey meat in New York. Best to avoid the word “monkey,” for one thing — start with something innocuous-sounding, like “dry meat.”…“They’re coming to catch people...