Savoring Food Words From Merriam-Webster

by Kevin Burton    After last week’s posts about the Food Network, we set the table once more with words about food from our friends at Merriam-Webster dictionary.    I have heard the chefs on TV drop some of these words, but other words on the list sound more like Roman or Jewish names from …

Getaway Day, Glorious Beyond (These) Words

by Kevin Burton    It takes a little work to make a vacation happen doesn’t it? You don’t just up and go.    You have to make sure everything is taken care of. Animals, if you have them. The homestead. Plus you have to arrange for accommodations on the road.    But there comes a …

That’s More Like It!, Real Scrabble Strategy

by Kevin Burton    My mom and I have played a lot of Scrabble over the years. Neither of us pursued victory by waiting around for jawbreaker words such as the one ones featured in yesterday’s Scrabble post.    Muzjiks? Bezique? Quetzal?  Let me know when you get those sets of letters on your rack! …

Interesting But Hard-To-Play Scrabble Words

by Kevin Burton     As usual, Dictionary Scoop has an interesting list today. But this one has next to no value.    It’s a list of the biggest, bangiest Scrabble words. The words that if successfully deployed, would bring the highest scores.    But your chances of ever having these exact letters on your board …

Can’t Forget The Breakfast Club, Simple Minds

by Kevin Burton    It’s been 40 years and I haven’t forgotten.    But it would appear that my limited affection for Simple Minds begins and ends with Ally Sheedy and The Breakfast Club.    Both the band and the Brat Pack were white hot in 1985, 40 years ago this week, when “Don’t You …

Twelve Legal Terms Everyone Should Know

by Dictionary Scoop    If you have ever been befuddled by a legal term in a conversation, a document, TV, or elsewhere, you are certainly not alone. The law has a certain way with words and it can be tricky for the layman to fully understand their meaning.    This article serves as a humble …

Plant Names That Sound Like Insults

by Kevin Burton    If you’re not good at gardening, you can say that you have a “brown thumb.” You can say it, I won’t.    Yes the antonym of “green thumb” which speaks to people who are good at gardening is “brown thumb.” But that sounds much worse than it needs to, so I’ll …

The Grooviest Band You’ve Never Heard Of

by Kevin Burton    When you bite the hand that feeds you, chances are you won’t get fed anymore.     Or you could say it this way: “no more fun and games.”    That’s the story of the Houston-based, late 60s sunshine pop band The Fun And Games, according to published accounts.     Not very …

In God Is The Only Certainty We Have

by Kevin Burton    The words of Job, speaking of our loving, caring God, lend us comfort and certainty today.    We sorely need comfort and certainty in today’s troubled times. To say they are welcome is an extreme understatement.     But we don’t often pluck them from the book of Job, at least I …

The Weird, Wacky Words Of The Wild West

by Dictionary Scoop    Cowboys in the Old West not only tamed the inhospitable land, but they also forged their own language.    They created unrefined similes and metaphors, broke the rules of grammar, flooded figures of speech with humor, and made a verb out of anything. In this article, we review 12 expressions we …