The word rubric derives from a Latin word for “red.” Originally, it referred to red letters used as section headings in religious texts and the like. Rubric has since become a term used in modern educational jargon, as in grading rubric...
Greetings! In our latest show, we talk about an expression familiar to many African-Americans but little known outside that community, "I couldn't buy a louse in a wrestling jacket." Also, what does it mean if your dog is...
The 2010 winner of the “Best Picture” Oscar has a Seattle woman wondering about the term hurt locker. Ben Zimmer wrote about it recently in his column at the Visual Thesaurus and we talk about it, too. Here’s the searing poem by...
A Connecticut listener is suspicious of a Wikipedia entry that claims the slang term homie derives from Latin homo, meaning man. This is part of a complete episode.
How’d we get the term colorblind, and when it did come to be mean “indifferent to race”? This is part of a complete episode.
How did the term bisque come to mean “an unglazed piece of ceramic work”? Does it have anything to do with the kind of bisque that might be served in a ceramic bowl? This is part of a complete episode.