We welcome back James Harbeck for another installment of his "Word Tasting Notes." This time he mulls over a fanciful word that combines "floor" and "wardrobe" into a new droll creation: "floordrobe."  Continue reading...

When Nik Wallenda crossed over Niagara Falls on tightrope as a daredevil stunt, it was a golden opportunity for commentators to use the word funambulist.  Continue reading...

"What's the hubbub, Bub?" said Bugs Bunny. But, buddy, what is a hubbub? Is it simply general hullaballoo? Or is it something more threatening?  Continue reading...

We're happy to feature another installment of James Harbeck's Word Tasting Notes, this time on geoduck: "This word, at first sight, seems to be a paradoxical mix: geo says 'earth' to us, and duck says 'waterfowl.' Put them together and you have something that is, as the saying goes, neither fish nor fowl."  Continue reading...

On his Sesquiotica blog, writer, editor, and designer James Harbeck has a regular feature that he calls "Word Tasting Notes." "Words are delicious and intoxicating," Harbeck writes. "So why not taste them like a fine wine?" Here, he delves into the history of a word we frequently hear (or mishear) during the holiday season: hark.  Continue reading...