We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves the Boy Scouts, a baby, a craft project, and a city council meeting. • Instead of reversing...
Cool your jets, meaning calm down or take it easy, was already older than Kurt from Utah’s mid-1970s childhood near Edwards Air Force Base. The trail points back to the 1950s TV serial Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, whose rocket-age slang included plug...