I have today's crossword on @slate.com, and it's educational!
slate.com/life/2026/05...
It's Bee Week! Getting ready for the big event in our sparkly new venue. @scrippsbee.bsky.social
"Eighty-six" or "86" in a 1920 article from Topeka, KS. I see this is also OED's earliest. This knocks out NYC's Chumley's & Empire State Building theories. A new thread. cc @davidwondrich.bsky.social 1/
www.newspapers.com/article/the-...
FTA: @benzimmer.bsky.social on one of the nerdiest two-remove euphemisms you'll ever see stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/w...
Clipping found in The Topeka Capital-Journal published in Topeka, Kansas on 10/22/1920. "Eighty-six" or "86" slang term (1920).
On Facebook, Jay Dillon posted an intriguing verse that appeared in Prize Translations, Poems, and Parodies, Reprinted from The Journal of Education (1881). Jay muses that the line “What the …
Remember when they 86'd S. H. Sanders? (Article by @benzimmer.bsky.social)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
www.theatlantic.com
Many have claimed to know the origin story of the service industry’s most infamous number. But the real roots of the term have been largely forgotten.
New crossword for @slate.com, with a timely movie tie-in!
slate.com/life/2026/05...
New crossword for @slate.com! Hope you find it better than meh.
slate.com/life/2026/05...
My wordy pursuits collide in today's @slate.com crossword!
slate.com/life/2026/06...
It's another guest appearance from the Barnacle (aka me) on the crossword podcast @fillmeinpodcast.bsky.social. bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/fill-me-in-5...
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
The @scrippsbee.bsky.social finals are tonight on @iontelevision.bsky.social at 8pm ET! You might catch me at the judges table, or in a prerecorded bit where I talk about how spelling a difficult word can be like solving an etymological puzzle. #spellingbee
Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/scrip...
Ben Zimmer
Strong Language
Ryan is off losing money in Las Vegas, so we all chanted "Barnacle! Barnacle! Barnacle!" -- and lo and behold, appeared in the studio to regale everyone with tales of the ! That, plus jealousy of the...
