The bloody history of one of football's greatest words.
As a fan of the Buffalo Bills—the only team to go to four Super Bowls in a row, and the only team to lose four in a row—Super Bowl weekend is always a little bittersweet. Did I say “bittersweet”? I meant “as pleasant as a fork in my brain.” The fact that the team hasn’t even made the...
The weird world of invented languages—from Esperanto to Avatar.
I haven’t seen the mega-hit Avatar yet, and I don’t plan to: The whole thing seems a little phony for my tastes, from the mountains of hype to the 3D gimmickry all the way down to what one writer called “Cats with Human Boobs.” Thanks, but I’ll pass.
Still,...
How tweeting, googling, and McJobs have changed the way we use branded words.
When the American Dialect Society met in Baltimore in early January, many words were recognized. “Hiking the Appalachian trail” (the Mark Sanfordism) was voted Most Euphemistic, “sea kitten” (PETA’s silly reinvention of fish) earned Most Unnecessary, and “Dracula...
A useful word for the proliferation of useless stories.
I'm mystified by the harsh treatment of Washington Wizard Gilbert Arenas, whose only crimes appear to be bringing unloaded guns to work and having an overactive sense of humor. With all the athletes who have actually assaulted people, I don't see why this guy needs to be...
How our latest criminal nickname caught on so quickly.
Nicknaming criminals is a long tradition that encompasses Jack the Ripper, Billy the Kid, The Birdman of Alcatraz, The Boston Strangler, Machine Gun Kelly, Scarface, and Public Enemy #1—a nickname given to many criminals, including Al Capone and John Dillinger, long...
How one hard winter created a true Americanism.
When you’re from Buffalo, New York, you get to know snow. I was there when six feet fell in five days. I was there when one foot fell in one hour—rush hour, conveniently—paralyzing the city and creating instant icy hell. As a wee lad, I lived through the ferocious Blizzard of...
Ten years of technology, terrorism, and truthiness.
I don’t know how blood tests work, and I don’t want to: they ick me out. Still, I can imagine that the red stuff flowing through our veins gives doctors important clues about the rest of the body. Looking at prominent words has the same function. It’s one way of pinpointing...
The language of our stressful holiday exchanges.
‘Tis the season of giving! With luck, we will also get. My gift to you is a look at gift-centric phrases—some common, some under-the-radar. I hope these words will help you as you navigate the treacherous holiday waters, which are so often soaked in booze, gravy, and reindeer...
A Twitter sensation skewers the media (and grammar Nazis too).
If you’ve ever been tortured by the APA, MLA, AP, or Chicago Manual of Style guidebooks, you’re probably already gleefully enjoying the comedy of Twitter’s Fake AP Stylebook, which offers memorable nuggets of writing advice, such as:
"Stupider" and "Stupidest" are not words,...
How bad moods make us careful.
Like so many writing teachers, I’ve been told I sometimes drive my students to depression or binge-drinking. Once, an online student who was about to meet me in person told a colleague that she needed to “face her fear”—that face of fear being yours truly. Yes, I can be that...
