Tricia in Cross Oaks, Texas, says that when she was a child, a family friend fondly called her a nitnoy, meaning “a small person.” U.S. soldiers picked this term in Thailand, where nit noi (นิดหน่อย) means “a little bit.”...
There’s an atmospheric phenomenon that resembles the Northern Lights, and it’s called STEVE. That’s because citizen scientists used that name among themselves when discussing these glowing ribbons of color in the sky. They settled...
Daniel in Gainesville, Florida, shares a funny story about people who misunderstood a party invitation that called for Sunday-to-meeting clothes. In this case, the meeting isn’t just any meeting. It’s an old word for “church...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been puzzling over metaphors that involve an action performed on a noun. For example, say he’s writing an essay and suddenly gets some new ideas that inspire him. It’s not literally that he was traveling in a...
Leo, a scientIst in Tucson, Arizona, used to live in Japan, where he often heard Japanese speakers using English that wasn’t quite correct. For example, one Japanese friend described someone “full of worry” as scareful. Another...
In Scotland and Northern England, something that’s kenspeckle is “conspicuous.” This word likely comes from Scandinavian languages and is related to English ken, meaning “range of knowledge.” And it’s not just ken...