“What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn’t a cat?” Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children’s joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for the difference between...
John in Bismarck, North Dakota, wants a word that describes a neutral state of emotion, specifically the midpoint between depression and euphoria. Is that insouciant? Apathy? Zen? Affectless? What’s wrong with plain old neutral? This is part...
Should the Great Recession be talked and written about as a proper noun? Recessions tend to be vague in their scale and timelines, so it’s problematic to mention them as proper nouns. Perhaps the similarities in sound between Great Recession...
obsessive housing disorder n.— «As Washington grapples with the current mortgage crisis, advocates from both parties are already warning the feds not to relax their commitment to expanding homeownership—even if that means reviving the...
vitamin P n.— «Considering her own history of depression—Vincent had been taking “Vitamin P” (better known as Prozac) for years—she anticipated her mental health might suffer.» —“Norah Vincent spent a year disguised as a...
rain garden n.— «But he knew very little about native plants until about five years ago, when he encountered for the first time the term “rain garden”—a phrase used to describe an intentionally created depression in the ground that is...