Open your kitchen cupboard or a cookbook, and chances are you’ll come across a lot of spices and peppers with recognizable names that you still can’t pronounce properly, like turmeric, cayenne, and habanero. We often give foreign...
What’s hotter than a hen in a wool basket? Or hotter than a goat’s butt in a pepper patch? You tell us! This is part of a complete episode.
Why are the names of cars so unimaginative? Grant argues that auto manufacturers might take inspiration from ornithology to build a better car name. (Then again, would you be any less aggravated if you were rear-ended by a lazuli bunting?) Also this...
When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it’s a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.
scud n.—Gloss: the small and very hot “bird’s eye” chili pepper, also known as the “mouse-dropping” chili. Usually said to be nicknamed after the Scud missile. «I did balk a little at the call for 75 birdseye...
condimaniac n.— «Condimaniac…a person affected by a mania for condiments; one whose cabinets and refrigerator doors are filled with an excess of food seasonings, e.g.,— “He’s such a condimaniac, he brought his own Dijon...