clown prince
No matter what your politics, chances are you’ve heard or seen “Clown Prince” applied derisively to...
A series of explorations into the earliest uses of various English words and phrases.
dropping like flies
When my wife and I came down with COVID recently (after evading it for more than...
four-letter word
This post is not about the etymology of four-letter words, but about the term four-letter word...
herky-jerky
The term herky-jerky, which has been around since at least 1889, has been widely used in...
infographic (and infograph)
Many histories of modern infographics begin with the work of William Playfair in the late 18th...
whodunit
Whodunit? Figuring out who coined this popular term for a murder mystery is a whodunit itself....
long drink of water
At Fenway Park two nights ago my wife, Jill, looking at lanky Red Sox ace Chris...
war of nerves
Most dictionaries define “war of nerves” as the use of psychological means to undermine or wear...
