For 341 years, the poets laureate of Britain have all been male. That just changed with the appointment of Britain’s new poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her work has been described as “dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest...
Many people are irritated by using the word troops to refer to a small number of soldiers, as in “Two troops were wounded.” Is it ever correct to use the word troop to mean an individual person? The hosts explain that in the military...
Af-Pak n.— Note: Also AFPAK. «He is understood to have ordered military chiefs to build a revised strategy on the foundation that his first priority is stopping another terror attack against America from what is commonly referred to as...
We asked you to tell us about odd regional food names, and boy did you oblige! Martha reads some of your letters about whoopie pies, hot tamales, pretzel salad, coolers, and the frappe vs. milkshake controversy.
diplomatic surge n.— «President George W. Bush this week celebrated security gains from the US troop “surge” in Iraq—but made clear that US hopes rest heavily on what some aides call “the diplomatic surge...
skin area n.— «It was more than 40 miles to the destroyed zone by ruck march, a forced troop march carrying gear and armaments which can weigh in excess of 100 pounds. The term used to describe the region of the country is the “skin...