You’ve seen this guy before: the older gent who strolls around at construction sites, asking questions, offering suggestions, and kibitizing about the activities there. The Italian dictionary Lo Zingarelli (Amazon) recently added the handy...
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you’re not writing from...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a cheesy puzzle with punny answers to rival the funk of week-old Limburger (or is that another name for a plant-based burger?). For example, if you don’t trust that suspicious guy behind the cheese counter, you may...
After our conversation about the word nickname, a listener shares the story of a guy who earned the nickname Blister because he always “shows up when the work is done.” This is part of a complete episode.
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...
You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojalá is especially handy for expressing hopefulness and derives from Arabic for “God willing.” In Trinidad, if you want to ask...