What’s the most common street name in the United States? Hint: It’s not Main Street or Third Street. It’s also not First Street. You’ll find the answer, along with lots of other fascinating information, in The Address Book:...
Imagine trying to tell someone how to get to your home without using the name of your street, or for that matter, the names of any other nearby streets. That challenge makes you realize just how much we take for granted the words we use to tell...
Matt, a new college grad in Austin, Texas, wants guidance about what kinds of things are appropriate to share during conversations in the workplace. Sociolinguist Janet Holmes has extensively researched and written about this topic, including in...
If you’re looking for a great book about writing, Martha recommends Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing. In it, Constance Hale offers an accessible, bang-up course in writing with excerpted passages that really show how the...
racecraft n.— «“When you get to this stage, these guys know how to drive race cars,” said Mears, who is working with driver Will Power as he prepares for his second Indy start and first with Penske on May 24. “So it’s really...
feller buncher n.— «Along a 9.5-mile corridor between Buchanan and Millwood, a team of contractors was busy removing oaks, birches and other trees to create a quarter-mile clearing. In one clearing, a feller buncher—a kind of bulldozer...