"Interesting. As I understood it, the word also referred to women at the time of the French Revolution, who were often obliged to go without..." more...
"It's more complicated than that. At least in the frindley household, you have to take it down off the top of the pantry cupboard every three months..." more...
"The "common venereal disease" definition has led to the idiom "a case of the clap". This has in turn led to the humorous usage referring to..." more...
"Xee is a convenient software of viewing your image and to browse quickly. It is designed to be a powerful tool to view image and management. Besides,..." more...
"I'm Australian (Sydney born and bred) and I use orient/oriented and, of course, disoriented. But I certainly do hear, in Australia, usage such..." more...
"Actually, there's a similar principle behind serving duck with orange. I have read that it is necessary because the duck eats its own faeces, which..." more...
"Will detect your preferred pronunciation and filter comments accordingly. Can detect more than 500 varieties of spoken English, including [true..." more...
"In isolation, I think strange before I think gay. But how often does one encounter words in genuine isolation? Almost never. And to that end, nearly..." more...
"I don't think there's anything offensive about it all. But for someone who was brought up with "sitting cross-legged" and encounters the term for the..." more...
"ROSALIND. It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue; but it is no more unhandsome than to see the lord the prologue. If it be true that..." more...
"ROSALIND. It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue; but it is no more unhandsome than to see the lord the prologue. (As You Like It)" more...
"Ah, my prudishness theory is indeed shot to pieces. Will abandon it forthwith, at least in the matter of beets. I had quite forgotten to make a..." more...
"My mother liked beetroot way too much. Every week she'd be boiling some up in the pressure cooker. I couldn't stand it and refused to eat it...." more...
"True. Actually, thinking of beet/beetroot always makes me think of roach/cockroach. I've long held the possibly erroneous and almost certainly..." more...
"My theory involves two factors: 1. It's just so messy – all that crimson juice everywhere – and furthermore, it makes many people think of blood,..." more...
"Then Tabitha Twitchit came down the garden and found her kittens on the wall with no clothes on. She pulled them off the wall, smacked them, and took..." more...
"I am affronted. Where is my exclusive, personalised invitation to join Wordie PRO! at great personal expense and to thereby enjoy full benefit of..." more...
"In 1685 Naples was as populous, as noisy, and as dirty as it is now. Even then it was a little battered, and from the summit of the town its..." more...
"Ah, the niceties of language! Down here in the Antipodes, if you were sitting on a chair with your legs crossed you'd say you were "crossing your..." more...
"Oh yes, I need this word! I've never been impressed by Supré, but I found a new-minted antagonism towards this chain when they took over my..." more...
"The Renaissance madrigalist Don Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, wrote some amazingly modern-sounding music, but is perhaps even more famous for..." more...
"Rapturously fragrant, sweetly aromatic" purpled ink – that first intoxicating inhalation of isopropanol and methanol from the freshly made school..." more...
"Ever noticed how many new picture books have a distinctive smell of vomit? It's the particular size that they use to stiffen and finish the paper...." more...
"This is the fourth scent in {a} series of primal smells. Wild Hunt is the scent of an ancient forest in the heat of a summer afternoon. It is a..." more...
"The prime note in this scent is Coppertone 1967 blended with a new accord…created especially for this perfume – North Atlantic. The base of the..." more...
"This is the first scent in {a} series of primal smells. Eternal Return is the scent of sailing toward the shore. It is a blend of Fresh Ocean Air,..." more...
"My favourite is In the Library: "English Novel taken from a Signed First Edition…Russian & Moroccan leather bindings, worn cloth and a hint of wood..." more...
"Judy Ryan is waiting to be defined in the Macquarie Dictionary. Ms Ryan is a focalologist, or tie collector, and the Tie Society of Australia has..." more...
"Definitely singular. I wore a leotard to ballet class for 12 years (not the same leotard). If I ever wore leotards, plural, it was because it was..." more...