A kindergartener misunderstands the name of an event at his school, insisting to his mother that he attended a pepper alley, not a pep rally. Let’s hope that’s the case, because pepper alley is actually 19th-century boxing slang for...
Hey, podcast listener! Martha here with a special minicast of A Way with Words. Today I want to tell you a story — and make a request for you to support A Way with Words. The story is about a guy named Luigi. He was born in 1737 in Bologna, Italy...
Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, not at all. The answer lies with politics and conquest rather than language itself. Plus: a new...
jumps n.pl.— «You look down again and the water’s boiling all around you. And you begin to see the culprits: white bass. They’re murdering a school of baitfish, and those baitfish are going airborne in a frantic attempt to escape. The...
cubital tunnel syndrome n.— «Orthopedic specialists around the globe are seeing the worldwide strike of a new condition known as cubital tunnel syndrome (commonly called cell phone elbow) that can potentially cause long-term nerve damage...
tire buster n.— «Another thing that we’ve done is we’ve implemented emergency response teams and these guys are able to go out within 24 hours and address any hole that are sometimes referred to as “tire busters,” those holes...