Everyone knows you don’t start a sentence with but. But why? Also, how voice recognition technology is changing the way we think and write and what English sounds like to foreigners. Plus, where cockamamie comes from, oddly translated movie...
coolio n.— «What the trucker cap and wallet chain were to hipsters of a moment ago, the Kramden is to what my colleague Mike Albo refers to as the “coolios” of now. Leading with a belly is a male privilege of long standing, of course, a...
chain up v. phr.— «During snowstorms in Portland, Ore., before Christmas, Kelley had to chain up, or “hang iron” as he calls it. “It takes two hours to hang my iron.”» —“Road closures make a costly wait for...
coop n.— «The troopers man the weigh stations to keep you and the truckers safe. Their job gets even tougher when they’re battling a Web site called Coopsareopen.com. Truck drivers use the term “coops” for weigh stations...
docu-soap n.— «Beers, who often narrates his own shows, has found a winning formula for his “docu-soaps,” as he calls them. His series typically profile men with blue-collar jobs, such as crab fishermen, truckers, Texas oil wildcatters...
run wild v. phr.— «His usual workweek is a five-day, four-night route around California or the Southwest—”running wild” in Wal-Mart trucker parlance—delivering goods to stores, used pallets to warehouses and...