TagTulip

A Roberta of Flax

We have collective nouns for animals, like “a gaggle of geese,” “a pride of lions,” and “an exaltation of larks.” So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a “greasing of palms,” or a “pursing of tulips”? Also, the difference between further...

Mommy of Poppies

Martha shares more clever collective plant names, including a “mommy of poppies.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mommy of Poppies” We were talking earlier about collective nouns for plants. Oh, you’ve got more? I have plucked a...

Jet Black

Why do we say something is jet black? Does it have to do with the color of a 747’s exhaust? Or skid marks on the runway? Or something else entirely? We provide a color with a mineralogical answer. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...

color revolution

color revolution  n.— «Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution, Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution and Kyrgyzstan’s 2005 Tulip Revolution resulted in new leaders who advocated democracy rising to power in all three of these post-Soviet states. The success of...