In Italy I fancied myself one of the cognoscenti (people in the know), and was living la dolce vita (the sweet life).

Literally, what’s in a word? We all know that a word is a unit of language or a brief utterance that conveys information. But what else is in a word? Well, sometimes lots of other words are hiding in there. That’s our mission this week. To find the words that hide in other words — […]

Back when Mr. Leon Leonwood Bean was building his business in Freeport, the lumber dealer in town was Mr. Woodman, making his name an aptronym, or a name that’s appropriate for the type of work one does.

The Buick Century, a car model manufactured on and off since 1936, was so named because it could hit 100 miles per hour back in the day.

To say that computers are everywhere is an understatement. Whether we’re working, playing, shopping or just relaxing, computers are probably playing some part. But it isn’t just our day-to-day existence that these brainy devices are affecting, they’re also changing the meanings of words. Consider this familiar pair of portmanteau words. “Bit” previously referred to a […]

Have you ever listened to a news report or read the newspaper and been struck by the use of a particular word?  Me too. In fact — probably no surprise to you here — it happens all the time to me. While I don’t exactly take notes, I often write down words and phrases when […]

By the ’80s everything was totally tubular. I had a great place with a bodacious view where I could hang loose.

When we want to pronounce a word, it’s usually pretty straightforward. As long as it isn’t one of those longwinded scientific or technical terms, we either already know how to say the word or we can figure it out pretty easily by using the standard rules of American English. But in situations where accuracy and […]

It’s been praised, vilified and most recently banished. The little hyphen’s future seems illfated despite having made a lot of connections over the years.

Lewiston wordmeister Jim Witherell explores our language’s many word phrases that make no sense unless you know what they mean, catch my drift?