Turn-of-phrase inflation.

The etymology of “the whole nine yards” is a total mystery. Anybody who tells you that they know its origin is either lying or unknowingly parroting an urban legend. The number of feet of fabric required to make a suit? Number of cubic yards of soil removed to dig a grave? Number of cubic yards …

Michigan representative barred from speaking on the floor for saying “vagina.”

This should sound familiar to those who followed the debate in the Virginia General Assembly over forcible vaginal probes. Republicans are deeply uncomfortable with the word “vagina,” and once Democratic legislators started tossing that word around, Republicans basically gave up the debate. So go for it, elected Democrats—vagina vagina vagina. If you can’t say it, …

Links for November 23rd

New York Times: Who’s on the Line? Increasingly, Caller ID Is DupedTelemarketers are faking Caller ID information with apparent impunity, so that people believe that the IRS or the FBI is calling. (Just like spam!) The FTC has just filed their first complaint against a company for doing that. The FCC wouldn't comment as to …

Links for November 11th

Double-Tongued Dictionary: hoghouse"Connotating legislation that has been stripped of its original provisions and amended to accomplish a different purpose." This is a useful word. Office of Government Ethics: Executive Agency Ethics Pledge WaiversThese are the presidential appointees who were given waivers to exempt them from one or more ethics regulations, along with copies of the …

Links for October 20th

Planet Money: What If We Paid Off The Debt?Back in the good old days—before President George W. Bush, before fighting two wars, before September 11th, before a huge tax cut paid for with debt—it looked very much like the entire debt would be paid off by 2012. In producing the final Economic Report of the …

Links for October 11th

CJR: The Shorter-Form JournalThis clever analysis of Wall Street Journal article lengths over the years shows that, under Rupert Murdoch, articles have gotten quite a bit shorter. The Washington Post: Five myths about voter fraudThere are some important and interesting facts about voter fraud here. A member of the Commission on Federal Election Reform figures …

Links for September 27th

Mediaite: AP Reporter Responds To Chris Hayes Panel Debate On Racism Of Droppin’ G’s From Obama SpeechThere's some fussing about how an AP reporter transcribed a quote from President Obama. In a recent speech, the president said: "Shake it off. Stop complainin’. Stop grumblin’. Stop cryin’." On one of those sunday morning shouting shows, the …

Links for September 8th

Open: Emphasis Update and SourceThe New York Times has a great feature that I'd never noticed—the ability to link to pages with specific content highlighted. It's perfect for calling attention to specific paragraphs or sentences when sharing a link with somebody. It's cleverly implemented, too. Time: Why Some Languages Sound So FastAll languages, when spoken, …

Links for July 22nd

Wikipedia: Flotsam and jetsamFloatsam is the wreckage of a ship or cargo that is floating in the water. Jetsam is any part of either that was tossed overboard deliberately. ChosenThis is a nice-looking, non-intrusive little jQuery/Prototype plugin that improves the UI of HTML select boxes. I'm not using it anywhere, but I intend to. BBC …