Bob in Oceanside, California, learned the practical range of Spanish mordida in Baja: it can mean an actual bite, as in a warning about a dog, and in Mexico it can also mean a bribe, the sort demanded instead of a ticket. The English expression put...
Did pirates ever actually say “shiver me timbers”? And why would they be shivering in the Caribbean, anyway? Actually, this saying has nothing to do with being cold, and pirates probably didn’t say it. The phrase goes back to the...
Careful what you criticize! Not long ago, some words that sound perfectly normal today were considered gauche and grating on the ear. If the complainers had had their way, we couldn’t say a word like pessimism or use contact as a verb! Also...
Back in 1867 a newspaper in Nevada used the verb pungle to lovely effect: “All night the clouds pungled their fleecy treasure.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “More Pungle” We were talking about the word...
Grant reads from a listener’s favorite poem by Lisel Mueller called “Why We Tell Stories.” It reads in part: “We sat by the fire in our caves,/ and because we were poor, we made up a tale/ about a treasure mountain/ that...
detectorist n.— «Just because you’ve got a metal detector doesn’t entitle you to charge unbidden onto other people’s property, Alan cautions. Detectorists must obtain permission to go onto private turf and must register with public lands...
