A Minnesotan who relocated to Wisconsin gets called a mud duck, and wants to know why. Much in the way Wisconsinites get referred to as cheese heads, it’s really a harmless bit of nomenclature from a cross-state rivalry. In hunting, the term...
Are we a nosy species? A listener married to a woman from Bangladesh explains how a Bengali term that translates as “nose-going” reflects the naturally inquisitive style of Bangladeshi culture. In many languages, the nose figures...
Sometimes the process of naming a pet takes a while. The hosts talk about how their dogs’ names evolved. This is part of a complete episode.
liberal lion n.— «When last seen on the House floor, Rep. Pete McCloskey could be found demanding the impeachment of President Nixon, helping write the Endangered Species Act and denouncing the Vietnam War. It’s been a few years since the...
bucket biologist n.— «There’s a term for people who transplant fish into a body of water where they don’t belong: They’re called “bucket biologists.”» —“Idaho Fights Invasive Species With Drawdown, Poison” by...
cat face n.— «Atzet stopped again, to drill into the bulging bark of a cat-faced sugar pine. The cat face is a ring of bulging bark that has grown to heal a scar left by a fire. Because the healing bark is loaded with pitch, it tends to...