While traveling in England, Chris in Hollywood, Florida, picked up a favorite word from his British friends: faff. The expression faffing about means “procrastinating, idling, dawdling” or “acting ineffectually.” Ultimately...
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re understood and being insulted. “High-involvement” speakers interrupt or talk along with someone else to signal their enthusiasm...
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
In parts of Pennsylvania, a late-spring dusting of light snow is called onion snow. It’s a reference to the way little green onion shoots are poking through the white. This is part of a complete episode.
That little basket that your strawberries and blueberries come in? It’s called a punnet. Just so you know. This is part of a complete episode.
What’s the difference between hand grenades and pomegranates? Not much when you think about their shape and the fact that they’re both packed tightly with small things, which is why both share a linguistic root with the word granular...