If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists have a name for it. • The best writers create...
How do you transform ancient Chinese script for use in the modern age? English uses a keyboard with just 26 letters, but the first Chinese typewriter looked like a small table under a huge disk with more than 4,000 characters. A new book chronicles...
If you vouch for something, you guarantee that what you’re saying is true. In the early 14th century, vouch was a transitive verb that meant “to summon into court to prove a title.” Vouch was adapted into English from an Old French...
cupcake v. to compete or win with little effort. Editorial Note: Usually transitive, especially in the form cupcake it. Thanks and credit go to Ben Zimmer for his research. Etymological Note: Ben Zimmer has suggested comparisons with other dessert...
thulp v. to overcome in a contest, sport, or fight; to beat, drub, or subdue; to finish off or exhaust. Editorial Note: Usually transitive: to thulp someone or something. Etymological Note: Often said to be a blend of “thump to a pulp.”...
bang v. in baseball, to call off a game because of inclement weather. Editorial Note: This verb is usually transitive: bang a game. Etymological Note: Perhaps from the notion of a judge banging a gavel, an act of finality comparable to a referee...