A prison employee wants to know about the term shank, that name for sharp weapons made with toothbrushes and pieces of metal. It derives from shank in the sense of the type of animal bone historically used in weapon making. This is part of a...
We usually brandish a weapon, or some object we can wave about. But the definition of brandish can be stretched to include more figurative types of weapons or objects (e.g. seductive body parts). This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
A man named Kris wants to name his son Qhristopher. Have a problem with that? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Qhristopher” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hey, this is Chris from McKinney, Texas. Welcome to the program. Well, thank...
dry powder n.—Gloss: Capital readily available for investment. «Capital available for secondary deals—what the industry calls dry powder—is about $12 to $15 billion, said Small, whose company manages some $4.2 billion of secondaries.» —“ANALYSIS...
dirty adj.— «The secret services create what’s called the “bubble,” a secure area where the candidate is. But once you’re in the bubble you can’t leave. The term for people outside it is “dirty,” meaning that you could have a weapon or someone...
moondust n.— «They must choose between snatching an hour of sleep or using the precious time to clean their weapons, which often jam from the fine sand—which soldiers call “moondust”—that is swept up by incessant winds, penetrating even the tiniest...