Beware of linguistic false friends, also known as false cognates. You wouldn’t want to say you’re feeling embarazada in Spanish, unless you want to say you’re pregnant. And don’t order the tuna in Spain unless you want to...
The 2011 words of the year list wouldn’t be complete without occupy, as in the Occupy protests that sprang up in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park and elsewhere. And Zuccotti lung? It’s an illness that made its rounds among the camped-out...
gun-grabber n.— «In a perfect world the NRA wouldn’t have to be spending so much of your money to hold the pack of rabid gun-grabbers at bay.» —“The Third Option” The Proponent (Columbus, Ohio) Sept., 1995...
unass v.— «Trying to unass the 3rd world leader of it because we don’t like him sure would be “sending a message” to the rest of the world “community,” wouldn’t it?» —“Re: OT—Should we remain in the...
blow-in n.— «The Government hypes the professed wisdom that Kernot was a high-profile “blow-in” who almost failed because the voters of Dickson, in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, wouldn’t accept a political carpetbagger...
wireline n.— «Although the Federal Communications Commission requires such capabilities of all wireline and wireless carriers who provide phone service in the same local calling areas within major markets, Verizon wouldn’t say whether it...