Ever heard a school bus called a school hack? Grant and Martha explain the etymology of hack, beginning with hackney horses in England, then referring to the drivers of the horse-drawn carriages, then the carriages themselves, and finally the...
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.
mother glass n.— «Automated Guided Vehicles do most of the work, shifting around what’s called “mother glass,” large chunks of glass substrate that are polished and cut to size. Today it’s 42 inch screens.» —“The world’s...
feathering n.— «Hybrids are most efficient when the brakes are used on and off—there’s even a driving technique called “feathering” that helps maximize your mileage while driving one—so if you do long stretches of freeway driving, again...
greenhouse n.— «Saturn could have been done better. I’m not talking about the engine mount or the shape of the greenhouse.» —“Roundtable Discussion Automobile Industry” Wall Street Transcript July 20, 1992. (source:...
frequent flier n.— «What the state has been doing is having the attendants at tollbooths try to take down license numbers of the cheaters (the state calls them frequent fliers). When a license appears three times, the state’s Department...