Cat face is a cute way to describe something like a piece of fruit or a tree that’s grown in on itself, giving it a puckered kind of indentation. Particularly in the African-American community, it’s used to denote a wrinkle to be ironed...
When you pick up a book of poems, how many do you read in one sitting? Some people devour several in a row, while others savor them much more slowly. Plus, it’s a problem faced by politicians and public speakers: When you have to stand in...
What’s the difference between an orchard and a grove? People plant orchards with trees meant to bear fruit or nuts, whereas groves aren’t necessarily planted. So an orange grove might be more accurately called an orange orchard. The...
If you’re not late for something, you could say that you’re in good season. This phrase, which shows up in Noah Webster’s dictionaries from the 1820s, derives from the agricultural state of fruits and vegetables being in season...
The Arabic idiom in the apricot season translates to “in your dreams,” presumably because the growing season for this fruit is so brief. Incidentally, the etymological root of “apricot,” which means “to ripen...
Which came first, orange the color or orange the fruit? And what’s a busman’s holiday? Martha and Grant talk about bumbershoots, brollies, nursery rhymes, and alternatives to the word unicycle. Plus, an app-inspired quiz, favorite...