Some college students are using the word loyalty as a synonym for monogamy. Are the meanings of these words now shifting? Plus, a biologist discovers a new species of bat, then names it after a poet he admires. Also, warm memories of how a childhood...
Robin in Jacksonville, Florida, grew up using the word unthaw as in unthaw the frozen hamburger until someone told her that she should instead simply say thaw to mean “allow something frozen to come to room temperature.” Is it wrong to...
The dated term “jingoism” denotes a kind of belligerent nationalism but the word’s roots lie in an old English drinking-house song that was popular during wartime. Speaking of fightin’ words, the expression “out the side of...
A husband and wife have a heated dispute. The topic? Whether thaw and unthaw mean the same thing. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Thaw vs. Unthaw” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Willie calling from...
Carol in Hamden, Connecticut, grew up hearing her Tennessee stepfather use unthaw to mean thaw, then saw a cornbread recipe calling for frozen corn kernels, “unthawed.” The verb unthaw is a dialectal form found in parts of the United States...
summer thaw n.— «Many schools see a “summer thaw,” when students who have decided in May to go to a certain school change their minds before September, he said. This can create a drop in the number of freshmen actually...