Is it cheating to say you’ve read a book if you only listened to it on tape? Over the centuries, the way we think about reading has changed a lot. There was a time, for example, when reading silently was considered strange. Plus, what do you...
Open your kitchen cupboard or a cookbook, and chances are you’ll come across a lot of spices and peppers with recognizable names that you still can’t pronounce properly, like turmeric, cayenne, and habanero. We often give foreign...
Digital timepieces may be changing the way we talk, at least a little. There’s Bob o’clock (8:08), Big o’clock (8:19), and even Pi o’clock. Also this week, what do you call that gesture with your fingers when you want to make...
anting n.— «The behavior you witnessed, Mona, is called “anting.” I know it seems like it should be called “mothballing,” but anting is much easier to say. Plus, more often than not, birds rub their feathers with...
house n.— «He also has become less interested in “getting a little house,” a term for attention-getting, applause-generating devices musicians use, such as playing a passage at super speed or holding a high note for a long...
wags n.pl.— «Pictures of the wives and girlfriends (or Wags as the FA’s acronym calls them) of the Euro 2004 England team, or of the wives and girlfriends of the 1999 US Ryder Cup team, for instance, show a classic feminine look where...