Wordwizard

I've never had them in a pancake blanket. Here they are usually wrapped in a puffed pastry or a croissant dough. Pillsbury crescent rolls work great. My mom used pancake batter mixed with a bit of cornmeal to make corn-dogs.

Steven, that is very interesting. At first, I thought "What a curious superstition." After looking around a bit, it appears that there is more to that than "old wives' tales". Many Asian cultures, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian have similar beliefs. There are also many studies that seem...

Thanks, folks (Folks?) I guess it's a good thing that my co-worker doesn't read here. Good point on the genericization angle. Yes, if I pull a random tissue from a box I'm grabbing a kleenex and the John/john bit makes good sense to me (for obvious reasons)... and who am I to argue with Mr. Safire? ...

A colleague was writing something at work this morning: "...this region is a mecca for well-educated natural foods customers..."
I said that a proper noun should be capitalized even when it is being used as a regular noun. She disagrees. It seems to be a split-vote on the inter-webs. Wizards...?

But you just can't put your finger on exactly what it is?

I wouldn't say it was wrong but I don't think it's perfectly okay . It doesn't seem natural. The terms xxx-deep can change meanings depending on what you are describing. Knee-deep can mean quite deep if you are talking about walking through pig manure. If you are talking about doing a high-dive into...

Me: “I’m going to jump in the shower before we go.”
My wife: “OK but that seems a little reckless.”
...it took second or two to register...

I didn't realize there was a specific name for them. I'm not sure how many people in North America would know what an "anglepoise" is. We usually call them "swing-arm", "balance-arm" or articulating desk lamps. Looking at the one on my desk, It's really a great design and seems to have hardly change...

Interesting, Bob, but what does it mean? Is there a connection to "but" and "bud" in the Welsh language...or in mining?

"Bro" or "brother" is also pretty common in North America. In eastern Canada, "boy" (often pronounced as "b'y", especially in Newfoundland) is often used. The most common UK (or maybe just England?) version is probably "mate" (also, not uncommon in Canada).

I've always struggled with those two (those, too). My mom always used "lay-down" as a noun, meaning a nap.
"I have a headache. I'm going for a little lay-down"
Should she have been saying a "lie-down"?

I'd say that was a drawstring

Like Ken, I just added it to my vocabulary today and I'm not sure...but I may have witnessed some children acting in a gambolic manner as I drove past the schoolyard, on my way into work this morning.

The patriotism was lost on me. I had no idea what I was singing about. I grew up in Victoria, British Columbia…so I was pretty sure it was
“Send her to Victoria, happy with Gloria” (I assumed that Gloria was a friend of hers). “Long to rain over us” (it was always raining, here).

We either said "here" or "present". By the way, checking attendance by reading from a list of names is known as "calling (the) roll" or "taking (the) roll". It is a roll call.
Every morning, after roll call, we recited The Lord's Prayer, then sang Oh Canada, and God Save The Queen.