nosocomial
adj. (of an infection) acquired in a hospital
iatrogenic
adj. (of a medical disorder) caused by a doctor
Language
Immortalized
In 1914, Collier’s assigned writer Julian Street to write a feature about Denver. Street duly arrived in town, but he didn’t venture far from the red-light district on Myers Avenue, and he spent most of his time there interviewing a Madam Leo, who gave him a story “hot enough to burn the paper on which it is written.”
To get even for the bad press, the town council ordered a new name for the prostitutes’ lane: They called it Julian Street.
In a Word
mammothrept
n. a spoiled child
Literally, “a child brought up by its grandmother.”
“Ape Owe ‘Em”
When fur stews can this sill leer I’m,
Toot rye tomb ache theme e’en ink Lear,
Youth inked wood butt bee weigh sting thyme;
Use eh, “It’s imp lean on scents shear!”
Gnome attar; Anna lies align!
Nation mice lender verse says knot–
Fork rip tick poet real Ike mine,
How Aaron weal, demesnes allot.
— Deems Taylor
Equivalent Expressions
What do these sentences have in common?
They’re all precisely the same length.
Off With Their Heads!
Show this bold Prussian that praises slaughter, slaughter brings rout. Teach this slaughter-lover his fall nears.
Grim, no? But remove the first letter of each word and the mood changes:
How his old Russian hat raises laughter — laughter rings out! Each, his laughter over, is all ears.
“Language,” wrote Flaubert, “is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.”
In a Word
decemnovenarianize
v. to act like a person of the 19th century
In a Word
spaneria
n. a scarcity of men
spanogyny
n. a scarcity of women
All Aboard
The smallest integer whose name includes all five vowels is ONE THOUSAND FIVE.
Balance
The word LOVE displays a perfect symmetry in the English alphabet: its letters are evenly distributed around the center.