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Gaffers, Best Boys and Python Wranglers: Weird Job Titles in Film Credits
Ever wonder how the “Second-Best Boy” feels? While Lexie’s away, learn about strange movie jobs titles in Mental Floss.
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Lexie Reemerges from the Etymological Underground
Word problems [clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap]…word problems… It was my phone. “Lexie Kahn. What’s the word?” “Lexie! You’re there. I’ve been leaving messages and texts for weeks. Where’ve you...
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Marriage equality and etymology
Another hot one. The manhole covers seared grill marks into the platforms of my stilettos as I dashed across Hollywood Boulevard and into cool confines of the commercial establishment I call my office....
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Celebration Time
“Well, now that we know about marriage,” Chris said, ruffling gelled tufts of hair with two fingers, “we’ve got another word problem.” “Shoot.” “We’re already married but we want to have a party in...
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Extra Lex: Arcane Animal Adjectives
Find a musteline way to say someone is slimy in this Mental Floss post.
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Spouses in the House
Elmore Leonard cautioned us never to open with the weather, but sometimes I get reckless. The chilly blast that swept through the coffee shop foretold summer’s end and perhaps a final farewell to...
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Should “Husband” Be Banned?
While I was getting us all another round of java, I tried to scope out the two couples for clues. No hairy hands. Just how big was Pat’s Adam’s apple? I turned to take the cardboard tray from the...
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Party Politics and Etymology
“Getting back to our wedding reception…” Pat started. “You guys had a party and we weren’t invited?” Lee fumed. Guys, I thought. Had Lee revealed something? No. “You guys” doesn’t indicate gender. “Of...
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Are Partners People Who Part?
“Okay, we’ve got party figured out.” Pat drained the dregs from the plastic glass. What do part and parcel and partial have to do with partner?” “Yeah,” Chris said. “We vowed to stay together ‘until...
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Molecular Mystery with a Side of Sushi
I was trembling like a Chihuahua after a thunderclap from too many Frappuccinos, but ravenous as I reached the Kenmore Arms. I jiggled the key in the lock until it yielded and kicked the door open. I...
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Words of the Year Quiz
The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) generated a sharknado of publicity by proclaiming selfie their Word of the Year for 2013. Although the Australian term for a photographic...
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Quiz: 100-Year-Old Words
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, six of the following words and phrases first appeared in print in English in 1914. Can you spot the four that didn’t and tell whether they appeared earlier...
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A Novel That’s a Real Novelty
I was hunched in my windowless corner office nursing a double. I was dry as an unirrigated field in California’s 500-year drought. Maybe the last gully-washer knocked a few years off the rating, but I...
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Extra Lex: “Life in the 1500s” Phrase Origins Hoax
While Lexie waits for the return of the novel novelist, check out these articles from Mental Floss debunking a popular email with fake origin stories for many expressions:...
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Spring Bounces In
I didn’t see her slip in — the tall, wavy-haired figure silhouetted in front of me. “Afternoon, Ms. Kahn,” she said. “And to you, Ms. Khan.” It was Amira Khan, the anonymous Boss Lady’s go-fer. Things...
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Extra Lex: Debunking Myths about Phrase Origins
A widely-circulated email called “Little History Lesson” gets the history of phrases like “big wig,” “to cost an arm and a leg” and “mind your own beeswax” all wrong. Here are the true stories from...
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Extra Lex: Century-Old Words
If you took our 100-Year-Old Words quiz, you may recognize some of these, but it’s hard to believe these words have been around for a century. Imagine Mr Selfridge spouting some of these words and...
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Extra Lex: Retronyms for when you’re talking old school
If Don Draper of “Mad Men” asked his secretary to place the GM file on his desktop near the dashboard icon, she might wonder what joker got him a plastic figurine for his car. Those terms have...
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Lexie and Election Electricity
“Does that answer your question, ma’am?” Ms. Khan said into her phone. I hadn’t realized she had me on speaker. She looked down at the phone. Apparently Mrs. Big was responding by text. “Thanks, Ms....
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