Here's a sterling example of a sentence that badly needs a comma, although only two items are listed, joined by "and". It came as part of an announcement from a local library concerning the attractions that will be included in the celebration of their 100th anniversary: ... There will also...

Thank you, Slava! I'm pretty familiar with the terminology of mathematics (having worked for a mathematical publisher my entire working life), but the meanings of most terms are beyond my understanding. To come across a mathematical term that I'd never seen before was rather unsettling. At least now...

The other association I have for cartoons is the designs for tapestries. These certainly existed before prints or posters, and maybe paintings as well.

"Epsilontist" is a word used by Paul Halmos in his essay "How to write mathematics". It appears in this sentence: Symbolic presentation, in the sense of either the modem logician or the classical epsilontist, is something that machines can write and few but machines can read. The...

"Scrounge" is conspicuous by its absence from your list of synonyms.
"Wheedle" might also be listed, although that's a bit of a stretch.

When I was in college and rode an English bicycle, I carried a set of spanners in case minor adjustments were necessary. But a monkey wrench is what one uses for pipefitting. They're different, or at least that's what I learned as a child.

An overshoe, worn to protect one's shoes and keep one's feet dry from rain, snow and slush; usually used in the plural. When I was in high school, the current term for something later considered "cool" or "neat" was "shoe". And something especially cool was over "s...

This word appeared in my emailbox this morning, but hasn't yet been reiterated among current postings. My immediate reaction was that "velouté" must be related. And certainly that fits in with the various gastronomical observations. Regarding the latter, I was born (just barely) below the ...

Maybe the frequency of use depends on where you're located. For at least several years, "fidget toys" have been nearly ubiquitous in the U.S. For examples, see https://www.verywellfamily.com/best-fidget-toys-6744333 (not meant as an advertisement). This does mention ADHD as being relevant ...

"Stage" would be a good word to explicate. It can be a verb with at least two senses (stage a play, stage packages for delivery), and as a noun, it can also mean a stage in the progression of a disease. Maybe more.

One might extend the applicability of the term to "worship" of Brigitte Bardot. The summer after my freshman year in college, I was cashier for a small art theater, where the current flick was "And God Created Woman". But I wasn't old enough to be allowed in to watch it. (Instead...

This has been around for an awfully long time without graduating. Isn't it about time?

What about "converge"? Two (or more) verges (edges) coming together?

Wondering whether "bulgur", the delicious Middle Eastern wheat foodstuff, is related. Probably not.

(Pilaf, made with half rice, half bulgur, and a smattering of crumbled vermicelli, is even more delicious than any one of those ingredients alone. Especially when cooked over a campfire.)

I've always thought it quite appropriate that the Greek "potamos" was so nicely replicated in the name of the Patowmack River that runs past Washington, DC. I've even considered whether hippopotami (plural thanks to Flanders & Swann) would find that river a pleasant place to inhabit; p...