the vocabulary police

the word "pablum" has appeared twice in the New York Times opinion page in as many days. i think i am entitled to an explanation. until then, i can imagine my own. the two columnists with the most expansive vocabulary, or the most inclination to make use of it, Dowd and Rich, drop a word that is attractive enough to be later copied.

in other media vocabulary news, John Stewart made a joke that almost nobody got last week, unless they looked the word up, explaining why he had a unibrow. the word was the key to my last cognate challenge.