When an archaeological curator discovered pages of strange code in a secret pocket inside a vintage dress, it set off a years-long search to decipher the seemingly unrelated lists of words. The mystery was solved in 2018, when a researcher at the...
Which is correct to say at the beginning and end of a quotation: quote unquote or quote end quote? Both are used, but the former is far more common. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Quote Unquote vs. Quote End Quote” Hello, you...
Long distance communication used to be pretty expensive, but few messages have made a bigger dent than William Seward’s diplomatic telegram to France, which in 1866 cost him more than $300,000 in today’s currency. This pricey message aptly became...
Hi! "It was bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." In this week's episode of "A Way with Words," we share favorite first lines. Also, beanplating, meeting cute, looking like "a tree full of...
citizen science n.— «The result is an impressively long-running example of “citizen science,” the term for projects in which amateurs gather field data for future research, making up in numbers what we lack in training and expertise.» —“Citizen...
dirt-baller n.— «Still, long gone is the time when anyone could suggest that Nadal was a clay-court specialist, what some Americans call “a dirt-baller.”» —“Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer win in Monaco” by Mark Hodgkinson in Monte...