fish with feet
fish with feet n.— «Digital magazines—the flappable, page-by-page replication of a publication’s print edition, rather than content uploaded individually to a magazine’s Web site—have been around for...
View ArticleNot the Sharpest Pickle in the Jar
Lots of things happening in Language Land these days! First, we were amused by the New York Times’ blog post titled, “Iceland Volcano Spews Consonants and Vowels.” We’ll say! http://nyti.ms/9HX2RW...
View ArticleThrow the House Out the Window
Buenos! In this week’s archive edition, we consider alternatives to the word “retirement.” We also discuss “swan song,” “bike-shedding,” “tohubohu,” “criteria,” and how to pronounce “crayon.” Listen...
View ArticlePuzzles, Poetry, and Pooflapoo
Hi, all -- In this week's archive edition, we talked about "pooflapoo pie" vs. "Watergate salad," "more" vs. "most," "stalactite" vs. "stalagmite," weather proverbs, and tricks for spelling difficult...
View ArticleThe “Its” Just Keep on Coming
Hello, fellow wordies! We hope this week’s archive edition isn’t “a few pickles short of a jar” or “a few peas short of a casserole.” We talk about these and other phrases for “not measuring up.” Also:...
View ArticlePlaying Catch-up
Hi, all — We’re back after a brief summer hiatus. So much to catch up on! In last weekend’s archive edition, we discussed “interrobangs,” “pronequarks,” “catios,” “horse dumplings,” how to say “sleep...
View ArticleThe Secret in Their I’s
Hi, all! In this week's archive edition, we discuss classic children's books, Faulknerian language, the double meaning of "sanction" and other Janus words, and a newcomer to Texas wants to talk like...
View ArticleWith Love from Us to You
Rabbit, Rabbit! In our latest archive edition, we dispense writing advice, discuss funny Spanish idioms, survey the wide array of names for grandparents, and talk about “fixin’ to,” “I’m all set,” and...
View ArticleGrammatical Guffaws and Kerfuffles
Hi, all! In the last archive edition before our new season (woohoo!), we cover colorful idioms around the world, portmanteau words, "wooden nickels," "thrice happy," "petered out," and why sneezing...
View Article$10,000 and 1400 Pounds of Dictionaries
When I read this narrative about the making of the first edition of the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus by former coworker Erin McKean, I was reminded of something that happened. I was one of the...
View Articlemurderabilia
murderabilia n.— «The Chicago Cartoon and Poster Co., 1941 W. North Ave., specializes in limited edition posters, pop culture collectibles, underground publications, adult comics, T-shirts, and...
View Articlerake
rake v.— «“He can really rake that ball to right field,” [Joe] Torre said. “He’s got a swing that’s tough to teach. To cover the ball and yank it to right field is something, and we have a very...
View ArticleKenTacoHut
KenTacoHut n.— «Many places in our game-world will not serve you if you are heavily modified. try to exist where even KenTacoHut shows you the door.» —“Re: [CP 2020] Third edition suggestions” by...
View Articlefeature well
feature well n.— «If the “feature well” (as it’s known in the business) had merely consisted of Ms. Barnett’s usual pontificating, perhaps this week’s edition could have avoided both insult and...
View Articledead tree
dead tree n.— «You sure aint gonna get a lot from just this small excerpt of The Book. I suggest, and it’d be in your slack-gaining ways’ best interest, to spend ANOTHER $$ on the dead tree edition....
View Articleabby
abby n.— «Have you seen this week’s edition of Newsweek? It’s all about the boomer generation—of which I am one of them. According to the article, boomers have played a key roll in defining every...
View Articleflymph
flymph n.— «Veron “Pete” Hidy, who fished often with Liesenring and who put into print, in the original edition, Big Jim’s ideas and knowledge of wet fly fishing, has added three new chapters on...
View ArticlePoints on a Compass, the Saga Continues
Welcome to another edition of the "A Way with Words" newsletter! Remember Tom, the guy who's still trying to recall a word he insists he learned long ago? He said it meant "the points on a compass." We...
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