Originally run in February of 2006 An allegory is a story told in which the characters and plot are intended to reflect another, totally unrelated situation. An example might be Arthur Miller's play The Crucible that tells the story of the Salem witch t

Originally aired on Feb 16, 2006 Pour yourself a drink.nbsp; Plop some icecubes in and stare across the top surface.nbsp; There isn't really much ice sticking out is there? This gives a pretty graphic view of how much of an iceberg is below the waterlin

Originally aired on Feb 14 2006 An ellipse is a sort of a squashed circle, or an elongated circle, depending on how you look at it. Another name for an ellipse is an oval.nbsp; The word "oval" comes to us because it means "egg like" which describes an o

A pickle is for me a crunchy preserved small cucumber.nbsp; This little green luncheon item takes its name from the preservation method of being immersed in a brine or salt and or vinegar. We get the word from Dutch and not only are foods preserved by pi

As a boy, being taken to church on Sunday I sometimes wondered what was so smelly about the seats in the church. Why were they called pews? Perhaps all of those rear ends resting on the polished oak surface? Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $

Spring is the time of lovers so what about a little romance? Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free. Now donrsquo;t get too distracted by thoughts of love because Irsquo;m about to tell you

According to Urbandictionary something tantalizing is alluring, delicious, adorable, tempting, or amazing. These all sound very good. But historically to be tantalized wasnrsquo;t such a good thing. It actually was closer to torture. Sponsor: Hold your

A snafu is a mix-up, a glitch.nbsp; Something that goes wrong. Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free. This is now recognized as a legitimate English word meriting space in dictionaries but or

For someone who is a prince, what would you say is the next step in their career advancement? Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free. I think most people would say king. Historically this kind

The other day I talked about the word garble and explained that at first it was used to mean to sort the wheat from the chaff. Sponsor: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free. You might think based on th