If you’re ever near a sundial, step closer and look for a message. Many sundials bear haunting, poetic inscriptions about the brevity of life. Plus, language development in toddlers: why and how little ones pick up the exclamation Uh-oh! And a...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski shares a puzzle he calls “annoyingly amusing.” For example, suppose he says Yes, you’re right. I don’t see any more aliens around. What did you say the coast was? How would you answer? How’s that...
Ever wonder what medieval England looked and sounded like? In Old English, the word hord meant “treasure” and your wordhord was the treasure of words locked up inside you. A delightful new book uses the language of that period to create...
Novelist Charles Dickens and the musician Prince were very different types of artists, but they also had a lot in common. A new book chronicling their extraordinary careers becomes a larger meditation on perfectionism and creativity itself. Plus...
Do you refer to your dog or cat as “somebody”? As in: When you love somebody that much, you don’t mind if they slobber. In other words, is your pet a somebody or a something? Also, for centuries, there was little consistency in the...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski puts us in a bind with a puzzle about “Common Bonds,” and a challenge to guess the word that often appears with each of three others. For example, what word often accompanies these three: slide, golden, and five...