dittoism n.— «There is a tendency in favour of what is called “dittoism,” i.e., everyone thinking the same thought without a healthy tendency to break the uniformity of thought.» —“EDITORIAL: NWFP’s security is...
If English isn’t your first language, there are lots of ways to learn it, such as memorizing Barack Obama’s speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention. Martha and Grant talk about some of the unusual ways foreigners are learning to speak...
Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers’ rights, the Amazon Kindle 2, Roy’s recent book, Alphabet Juice, “sonicky” words, and noodling for catfish. He also clears up...
Feeling fankled? It’s a Scots English word that means “messed up” or “confused.” In this week’s episode, Grant and Martha also discuss a whole litter of synonyms for dust bunny, a slew of different terms for the...
flashtard n.— «The problem is in a lot of cases it’s just going to be used and abused by people who have no business designing websites in the first place—you know, the people commonly known as “flashtards.” After all there’s...
snowroller n.— Note: Also as two words: “snow roller.” «Several days ago, several hundred rather large snowballs appeared on Lake Eyak over night. The next day I received phone calls and e-mails from curious Cordovans asking...