Bathroom walls, missing graffiti, and social media. Where have all the cute quips on bathroom stalls gone? We wonder about the apparent decline of restroom graffiti. Are people saving their witticisms for Twitter and Facebook? And: If...
If everyone on the planet spoke a single language, wouldn’t that make life a whole lot easier? For that matter, is a common world language even possible? Maybe for a minute or so—until new words and phrases start springing up. Also, did you...
The English word ouch is not universal. Michelle from Dallas, Texas, wondered whether people in all languages say it when they stub a toe, and the answer is no. Every language has its own short, vowel-heavy interjection. German speakers say autsch...
ringle n.— «Universal Music Group and the major labels are about to begin rolling out something called a “RINGLE.” You know, like a single? Except this will be 3 songs packaged together with a ringtone and wallpaper image for...
fright puppet n.— «To drive almost anywhere here this week is to run a gantlet of advertising for movies about killing.…A fright puppet from Universal’s “Dead Silence” peers menacingly from a construction-site wall by a children’s...
chew and screw v. phr.— « Whatever happened to the local colloquial term for running out on a restaurant tab—“chew ‘n’ screw”? Or the more universal phrase: “eat it & beat it.”» —“IHOP loses bid to get drop on...