Jessica in Indianapolis, Indiana, says her field of software development, rubber duck applies to a situation where you describe a problem you’re struggling with to someone else, and in the process of explaining it, you hit upon the solution...
Alex in Bishop, California, works with an environmental nonprofit that partners with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. When his team goes out into the field for several days on assignment, they refer to that stretch of time as a...
George, an ornithologist, calls from Seattle, Washington, to discuss using of the term flesh-colored to describe something pinkish in color. The Century Dictionary, first published in 1889, defined flesh-color as “The normal color of the skin...
She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are seashells I’m sure, so if she sells seashells on the seashore, then I’m sure she sells seashore shells. Some claim that this tongue twister is about the early life of 19th...
Mike in Nicholasville, Kentucky, remembers that his grandfather sometimes accepted an invitation with Can’t dance, and too wet to plow meaning that he “might as well.” A longer version goes Can’t dance, never could sing, and...
What’s the emotion halfway between clinical depression and euphoria? After our discussion of this question, listeners chimed in by email, phone, and social media with suggestions. They included complacent, balanced, placid, fine, content...