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...
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...
dementia americana n.— «When Thaw’s attorney made the case that his client had been acting out of a condition he termed dementia Americana—a legitimate rage triggered by the desecration of a man’s home—a powerful nexus of concerns with...