Adam in Indianapolis grew up with his grandmother’s warning not to split a pole, meaning that two companions shouldn’t pass on opposite sides of a lamppost, mailbox, or other street obstacle. The idea is that the physical separation hints at an...
We have collective nouns for animals, like “a gaggle of geese,” “a pride of lions,” and “an exaltation of larks.” So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a “greasing of palms,” or a...
What do you say when you answer the telephone? On the NPR science blog, “Krulwich Wonders,” Robert Krulwich notes that hello did not become a standard greeting until the Edison Company recommended the word as a proper phone greeting...
Caitlin from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, grew up calling the children’s message-passing game Whisper Down the Lane, but classmates knew it as Whisper Down the Alley, Telephone, or Broken Telephone. No firm U.S. regional boundary is known, although...
straw dog n.— «Bishops have always been free to theological form their own diocese. If this were not the case how was Mr. Schofield able to keep from ordaining women all those twenty years? This ladies and gentlemen, is what I believe is...
officetel n.— «I live in what’s known in Korea as an “officetel” which is basically a building full of bachelor apartments with several businesses running out of the lower levels.» —“A photo every day? Why the hell not...