distaff
I always had a vague idea that "distaff" referred to a woman specifically in the role of wife. Turns out it just means female more generally, or specifically maternal. MW11...
lac
This one isn't actually new to me now, but it was a few months ago, and I think it's a neat example of unexpected cultural differences, so I'll include it....
better mousetrap
"Any challenger to a market where one player holds 80 percent share not only has to build a better mousetrap but improve upon the mouse," said Jonathan Spira, chief...
terror glorification
I was amused by this headline the other day: Blair wins terror glorification vote --The Independent, 15 February 2006 Turns out the Terrorism Bill outlaws glorification of terrorism. The headline...
adit
Also used in the same story as "salle." An "adit" is a near-horizontal entrance shaft to a mine. This is yet another word that it's possible I've encountered before; it...
salle
Used in a submitted story. "Salle" is apparently French for "room" or "hall"; in the UK, it's "a sorting room in a paper mill"; apparently it's related to "saloon."...
choree
Chorees--abrupt, swift, falling like a keen axe. --We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, translated by Bernard Guilbert Guerney in 1960; p. 60 of the 1977 Penguin edition MW3 says "choree" is...
lampad
Their faces had the warm glow of lampads in an ancient church[....] --We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, translated by Bernard Guilbert Guerney in 1960; p. 52 of the 1977 Penguin...
emo
Karen M. recently referred to something as "emo," and suddenly I'm seeing the term everywhere. Turns out it's more or less derived from "emotional hardcore" as a genre of music,...
scrambled
Our Web site features the highest standard of encryption available. With this state-of-the-art security, your personal data is scrambled before it's transmitted through the Internet. --flyer from MBNA, received...