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Blog Excerpts
How Did Markets Get "Bearish" and "Bullish"?
Thu Feb 27 00:00:00 EST 2014
A "bear market" is one where stock prices fall, and a "bull market" is one where prices rise. But why do financial folks talk about "bears" and "bulls"? The public radio show Marketplace looked into various origin stories and called on our own Ben Zimmer to explain the history.
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Dog Eared
The Exuberance and Lyricism of Black Quotations
Wed Feb 26 00:00:00 EST 2014
As Black History Month comes to a close, we are proud to feature a fantastic new reference book: Bartlett's Familiar Black Quotations. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr. states in the foreword, it is an "impressively researched and documented collection of the finest thought produced by writers throughout the African diaspora." Here we present an excerpt from the preface by the book's editor, Retha Powers.
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Word Count
Through the Wringer: Squeezing the Meaning from "Eke"
Tue Feb 25 00:00:00 EST 2014
Sometimes, a photo "ekes out of the printer." Other times, electronics help "to eke out extra mileage" in cars. And in a more familiar usage, a movie "shows how a once-budding folk singer tries to eke out a living." It's no wonder, then, that most people think "eke out" means to achieve something through effort, to barely get by.
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Behind the Dictionary
Nobody Likes a Whistleblower (or a Wrayer, Quadruplator, or Emphanist)
Mon Feb 24 00:00:00 EST 2014
A law firm that specializes in defending whistleblowers has started a petition on Change.org to persuade dictionaries and thesauruses to ditch their derogatory synonyms for whistleblower in favor of positive terms.
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Behind the Dictionary
"Twizzle" Gets Busy
Thu Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2014
Meryl Davis and Charlie White made history this week as the first Americans ever to win the Olympic gold medal in ice dancing. But for language watchers, an even more interesting question than who would take first place was this: What's a twizzle?
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Blog Excerpts
Why Figure Skaters Wait in the "Kiss and Cry" Area
Wed Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2014
While watching the Winter Olympics, did you ever wonder why figure skaters await their scores in the "kiss and cry" area? Stefan Fatsis, sports blogger for Slate, tells the story behind the phrase.
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Candlepower
And the Oscar for Best Production-Company Name Goes to...
Tue Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2014
During Hollywood movie-awards season — which culminates this year on March 2 with the Academy Awards show — honors are handed out for acting, editing, visual effects, music, makeup, and costumes. One category, however, has never had a chance to shine: the often creative, sometimes wacky names of film production companies.
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Blog Excerpts
5 Years After Its Discovery, a Washingtonian Typo Lingers
Mon Feb 17 00:00:00 EST 2014
Today is the federal observation of George Washington's birthday, also called Presidents' Day. Five years ago, an unfortunate typo was discovered in a quotation from Washington chiseled on the front of the New York State Supreme Courthouse. That typo still lingers today.
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Blog Excerpts
On Valentine's Day, "Whom" Do You Love?
Fri Feb 14 00:00:00 EST 2014
Online dating sites love to use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to talk about how people size up their potential romantic interests. And it turns out that an attention to grammar, particularly usage of the word "whom," just might help out men who would like to attract members of the opposite sex.
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Word Count
Nine Ways to "Lift" Your Quotes
Wed Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2014
My training as a writer came from newspapers. I started at a community weekly and then advanced to a metropolitan daily. I was really young when I learned how to handle quotes; not all corporate writers are so lucky. If you ever struggle with quotes, here's a list of rules that will make the process easier for you.
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