Q. Where does the phrase ‘last hurrah’ come from? . A. This well-used idiom is rooted in a 1956 Edwin O’Connor novel entitled, yup, The Last Hurrah. In it, 72-year old career politician Frank Skeffington decides he’s going to take one more run – one final attempt, a last ditch

Q. What are some lesser used or vintage words for the world of spies and detectives? . A. Wannabe Nancy Drew/Hercule Poirot/Sherlock Holmes to the books … Argute Shrewd Birdwatcher A spy Cannon-Shooter A private investigator who specializes in tracking down pickpockets Chicken Feed The real but ultimately harmless intelligence

Q. Why do some animals have such beautifully considered collective nouns while others are lumped together under rude, or perhaps worse, indifferent ‘nouns of assembly’? . A. It does seem unfair that we celebrate an exaltation of larks, a caravan of camels, pride of lions, streak of tigers, romp of

Q. What are some lesser used words to describe crushing arrogance? . A. Airish Acting superior and snobby with nothing but hot air to back it up. Biggity Self-important, boastful, unbearably vain. Blandiose Grandiose meets bland. Blatteroon A person who brags and babbles endlessly. Bumptious Loudly, gratingly, cluelessly cocky. Frustraneous

Q. It’s that time. What is Oxford English Dictionary’s official word of 2020? . A. 2020 is such a hot mess, it broke the dictionary. ‘Given the phenomenal breadth of language change and development during 2020, Oxford Languages concluded that this is a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in

Q. Have you ever stumbled into the fact that you use the same handful of quirky words over and over again: in writing, in emails, in phone conversations? Or perhaps you too have found yourself presenting to a group and suddenly, for no conscious reason, the same word keeps popping

Q. Come late fall and winter, world-weary weather folk in B.C. have to look for awfully creative ways to deliver the same news: it’s raining. Or it may rain. A lot. Hurrah for those days of crisp sun or a dusting of snow. But, what are some old or little-used

Q. What are some lesser used idioms? . A. They are awfully stubborn. The elephants refuse to leave the room, the thoughts cower inside the box, and the tattered idioms worm their way back into innocent conversations. The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms houses thousands of these ‘phrases that behave like words.’

Q. We’ve seen how one Norwegian word – kraken – has been assertively adopted into English conversation. But what other words have we eagerly co-opted from Norway? . A. The answer lies in The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words + Phrases. With definitions in our own words … Aquavit A

Q. This has been a month of extraordinary emotion – in the news, at home, on the streets. What are some lesser used English words that could describe how people are feeling? . A. Ache A deep and chronic pain. Adread Frightened. Terrified. Aprosexia Mind jumping hummingbird-like, from one thought