In 1944, an Italian scientist discovered a drug that he later named for his wife. His wife’s name was Marguerite, but she went by Rita — which is why this now familiar drug is known as Ritalin. Plus, a poem about churning butter shows how a...
There are many proposed origins for the exclamation of surprise, holy Toledo! But the most likely one involves not the city in Ohio, but instead Toledo, Spain, which has been a major religious center for centuries in the traditions of both Islam and...
Bavarian Chalet. Mushroom Basket. Moose Point. Who in the heck comes up with the names of paints, anyway? Martha and Grant ponder that mystery. They also explain why those annoying emails go by the name spam. And Grant explains the difference...
An Episcopal priest in Toledo worries that her sermons are cluttered with dashes. This works just fine when she’s preaching, but when the same text appears on her church’s website, it looks like a messy tangle of words and punctuation...
blue jacking n.— «At the age of 10 he sold newspapers in downtown Toledo.…They didn’t have a normal paper route like most kids, delivering to the same house every day in nice, quiet neighborhoods. This young boy and his friend...
scrap fever n.— «A fence was cannibalized by vandals at Ravine pool, and the pump room at Collins Pool—which the city will not open this year but could have used for parts—was stripped of metal.…Scrap fever, as it is sometimes...