Book recommendations, including a collection of short stories inspired by dictionaries, and a techno-thriller for teens. Or, how about novels with an upbeat message? Publishers call this genre up lit. Plus, a clergyman ponders an arresting phrase in...
Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in northern climes. • In the 1970s, some scientists argued that two quarks should be called truth and beauty. • The...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska presents a puzzle about the Oxcar awards, given to fictitious films, the names of which differ by just one letter from the names of the real 2010 Best Picture Oscar nominees. Here’s one such plot: “George Clooney...
If you need proof that language is powerful, here’s some. Researchers at Cornell recently reported that kids are more likely to eat their veggies if they’re told the food has enticing names like “X-ray Vision Carrots” and...
interiorscape n.— «For Jason Grubb and his staff, landscaping conjures a much different picture: Trees and plants located indoors. […] Grubb’s Greenery designs what are called “interiorscapes.” After they are designed...
Biltmore stick n.— «He wore a backpack with a G.P.S. receiver and carried, in one hand, a data collection unit resembling a portable credit card machine, and in the other, a strip of wood known as a Biltmore stick.…The Biltmore...