Bill, a substitute teacher in Fishers, Indiana, says that while visiting South Africa, he was surprised to hear an acquaintance use scheme to mean simply “a plan,” without no negative connotation whatsoever. In the UK and Commonwealth...
Joanna from Dallas, Texas, says English is not her first language, and she’s trying to understand the nuances of the words event and eventful. She wonders if the word eventful carries a less positive connotation than the word event. It depends...
Marley in Indianapolis, Indiana, is arguing with her friends over whether the word scrappy is positive or negative. The answer depends on context. This is part of a complete episode.
Nathan, a sailor at the United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, reports a vigorous dispute among his fellow servicemembers: Is gruntled a word? Nathan feels gruntled must be a word, arguing that it’s clearly the opposite of disgruntled...
negative operating cycle n.— «You can buy an iPod nano on Apple, Best Buy, etc. for about $149. Amazon sells it for $134. That’s probably cost price. It turns out that Amazon can sell almost everything at cost price and still make a...
crabs in a bucket other.— «There are other people who are uncomfortable with other people around them succeeding. I was told by one of my business mentors that this is sometimes called the “crabs in a bucket” concept-when...