Linda in Salisbury, North Carolina, wonders why boxing is called the sweet science, since there’s nothing obviously sweet about a bruising sport. This term took hold among British sportswriters in the early 19th century as promoters tried to frame...
Elaine from Boulder, Colorado, asks why to clock someone means to hit them. The slang appears to come from clock as a noun for the face, attested by the late 1800s, with the verb for punching someone in the face showing up by the 1920s. A related...
How do you decide when to use a comma? One strategy is to read your writing aloud and decide what sounds best. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “When to Use Commas” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Bubby...
If you’re not late for something, you could say that you’re in good season. This phrase, which shows up in Noah Webster’s dictionaries from the 1820s, derives from the agricultural state of fruits and vegetables being in season...
Hot traffic talk! A caller is looking for a word for the point at which you have to reach in order to make it through a stoplight before it turns red.
gun time n.— «A similar issue arose at the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, when Wesley Korir of Kenya finished fourth, despite starting five minutes after the elite runners. Like O’Connell, his time was clear because of the electronic...
