Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words, public radio's lively language show! Next week's show will be brand new, but this past weekend's show was a juicy repeat in which we talked about the demise of the typewriter, surfing...
muti murder n.— Note: “Muti” in several African languages refers to traditional or herbal medicine. «In muti murders, a victim—usually a woman or child—is killed in order to harvest body parts for making muti. It is believed...
emosexual n.— «One person wrote on a government youth-website forum, “detesto a los emosexuales,” which translates as “I hate emosexuals.” Emosexual is an obvious play on homosexual, especially in Spanish, where...
pet parent n.— «It is a disturbing trend and a sign of the tough economic times that has prompted a number of organizations to form hotlines for pet foster homes and to implore pet owners—or what the industry calls “pet...
rub and tug n.— «They can be seen walking the streets, are hired at brothels, and there are, of course, those extra treats offered through thinly guised massage parlours, commonly known as “rub and tugs.”» —“Is it OK to play if you have...
chuggle n.— «My ’01 Impala with the 3800 engine has 122,000 miles. For the last two months, it has began to surge rhythmically at about one-second intervals when accelerating from a stop sign or to maintain speed.…A sticky or...