Is there a term for words that simply feel good as you form them in your mouth and say them? Linguists sometimes speak of mouthfeel, an expression borrowed from the food world. They also talk about phonaesthetics, the study of the sensuous...
Creative communication in a noisy world! Writing a clever 140-character tweet isn’t easy. But you know what’s even more impressive? Working all 26 letters of the alphabet into just one sentence! The term for that type of sentence is...
A wine expert with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and a minor in French wonders about the origin of the term sommelier. It shares a root with sumpter, meaning “pack animal.” Sommelier used to refer generally to the person in...
tea sommelier n.— «Tiny finger sandwiches, crumpets, Devonshire cream and delicate tea cups hard figure on my gastronomic landscape. And this place even has a Tea Sommelier (a highfalutin word for tea expert) for heavens sake...
tea sommelier n.— «This malarkey, and a “tea sommelier,” appear aimed at the impressionable young. But Heartbeat’s menu, with entrees pushing $30, is priced for adults.» —“An Irregular Heartbeat” by Steve...