When you obsess about words as much as I do, it's hard to pick a favorite. It's like Batman picking his favorite criminal lowlife. How do you choose between the Joker, Two Face, the Penguin, and the scum who killed your parents? It's just too painful.

But what the heck, here's a good candidate, and it's also exhibit Q in the case of why I love the Dictionary of American Regional English: peedoodle.  Continue reading...

I have to admit, I'm still basking in the glow of last month's American Dialect Society meeting, when my two picks for 2009's Most Euphemistic — hiking the Appalachian trail and sea kittens — each took home an award. Hiking killed it in the euph category, while the sea kittens swam over to "Most Unnecessary" and took the prize. Booyah, and may I add, for the benefit of older readers, huzzah!  Continue reading...

Our own Mark Peters takes a look back at a decade in euphemisms, by trawling through the annual selections of "most euphemistic" words by the American Dialect Society — from courtesy calls to scooping technicians.  Continue reading...

In his latest monthly roundup of under-the-radar euphemisms, Visual Thesaurus contributor Mark Peters gets all pop-cultural, finding inspiration from the likes of 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy.  Continue reading...

It's in bad taste to make fun of your followers. It tends to discourage, you know, the following. Still, I can't resist gently heckling one of my recent Twitter followers who described herself as: "Newly married humom of the two cutest dogs in Twitterverse and beyond."  Continue reading...

As the author of the only euphemism column in North America or star quadrant XL47, you would be correct in assuming that I enjoy euphemisms as much as sunshine and chocolate cake.  Continue reading...

Recently, at the vibrant dog community in Chicago's Lincoln Park, a two-pound, three-month-old malti-poo puppy was engaged in a rigorous, Pepe le Pew-like program of incessantly humping every dog in his path. Well, not every dog. He did stick to pooches that were somewhat in his "league," such as my own 12-pound rat terrier, who thankfully didn't bite the preposterous puppy's head off for taking such liberties.  Continue reading...