Howdy and happy new year! It's another newsletter from "A Way with Words." Last week there was no newsletter as we celebrated the new year by hauling our dictionaries out of the low-hanging winter sun. We wish they were...
CO2e n.— «The IPCC has crunched the numbers and says this means a tax of about $50 levied on every metric ton of GHGs, or carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e to use their terminology).» —“We Need a Global Carbon Tax” by Ralph...
How about the phrase “saddle my nag”? No, this phrase isn’t some obscure bit of jargon from world of finance. It’s an expression familiar to Aussie schoolchildren. Martha explains what it means. This is part of a complete...
We hear the word maverick a lot lately, but where did this term for a stubborn nonconformist come from? Martha tells the story of the Texas politician who inspired the word, and whose grandson apparently coined another familiar English word...
watch wardrobing n.— «This transformation of the business has also given rise to some horrendous new terminology, with “watch wardrobing” and “accessorizing your wrist” as two of the more egregious examples of the...
sweater on the rail n.— «Hustling doesn’t merely involve the players at the table. There was a rogue’s gallery of “stakehorses” (financial backers), “sweaters on the rail” (side bettors) and “nits” (kibitzers). As the gambling spigot has...