Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton Now flowers come from seeds. But flower etymologies come from every linguistic corner under heaven, ubiquitous as the flowers themselves it seems. On a beautiful Spring day, imagine an average couple driving the highways and byways of the heartland in a beautiful 2012 Toyota. And the wife might say, “Do …
Continue reading “Flowers Can Wait, They’ll Be Here Tomorrow”
by Kevin Burton I knew sports played a big role in the shaping of our common language, but I didn’t know how big. We previously brought you a list of sports idioms on Page 7, but none of the ones from Dictionary Scoop that we posted yesterday or the one below, we’re on …
Continue reading “Keeping Score With The Language Of Sports”
by Kevin Burton Mitch Holthus is the radio voice of the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s really good at his job, in the overheated manner of the hometown play-by-play guy. There is a nearly-universal breathless presentation of sports that attempts to elevate it to something truly significant, when it really is not. Hey, …
Continue reading “Celebrate Your Victories, Even The Small Ones”
by Kevin Burton So I’ve had this material for a while. My friend Tracy sent it to me. Jusuuuut haven’t gotten around to posting it yet. You know, busy, busy, busy. It arrived under the headline “procrastinator’s creed.” Did you know that if you rearrange the letters in “procrastinator” you get …
by Kevin Burton Great stews and new sandwiches are born of imagination and the proper use of resources at hand. Sometimes we get words that way too. Two words combine, in whole or in part, to form a whole new word that though previously not a word, is immediately understandable. For example, …
by Kevin Burton You may not have heard of some of the words on today’s list from Merriam-Webster, especially the first one. The dictionary is serving up words about insignificance. But the first offering is from my childhood days at the Ohio State School for the Blind. I may have heard this …
by Kevin Burton Now don’t go getting your panties in a bunch, but today we’re going to mention the unmentionable. The dictionary made me do it! This is Merriam-Webster ‘s list of ten better ways to say “underwear.” Getting one’s “knickers in a twist” is the way they say that phrase in …
Continue reading “Other Terms For “Underwear” In Plain Sight”
by Kevin Burton Some of my totally blind friends used to fold dollar bills in certain ways so they would know what denomination they were. That was before the days of bill reader devices, so I’m not sure anybody does that folding any more. Anyway I used to call that folding that people …
by Kevin Burton Words do not respect borders, nor do they need passports to move from country to country. We don’t think of Japan so much as an origin for English words, but plenty of words are borrowed from Japanese. Merriam-Webster dictionary has served up a basketful, some of which I bring today. …
by Dictionary Scoop For Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, happiness is a warm puppy. For some, it’s a habit. For others, it is a philosophy, a quest, or an ideal, among many other things. Join us on a linguistic journey through the lexicon of happiness, discovering the many shades and …
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