Question: Is this French term a dance move, a medical condition, or a culinary technique? If you answered “none of the above,” then you win a life supply of banana-scented cuticle cream. (Just
(pronounced pah-lee-STI-reen)
One of the most widely used plastics, polystyrene is used a great deal in foams, molded products, and sheet materials because of its rigidity, its ability to be molded and extruded, and
(pronounced pah-lee-YUR-ah-thayn)
Sometimes abbreviated as PU (if you’re cool), polyurethane is a type of polymer (think plastic) with molecular bonds that lend the product to a myriad of useful applications. Heck, it even has its
(pronounced pahn-JEE)
Even though it sounds like something you’d eat at a luau, pongee is a thin, plain, and supple woven cloth. Most commonly made in China out of silk, pongee is also produced
(pronounced PAWP-uhp)
This is a term for a grommet in a table or countertop that quite literally “pops-up” through the surface so that electrical, data and/or audio-video connections can easily be accessed.
Any of you out there that has taken a year of high school French should recognize that this term translates literally as “coach door.” It describes either 1) a passageway that leads through a building or wall, allowing
(pronounced POR-tih-koh)
This word comes courtesy of the Italians, who adapted it from the Latin word porticus, basically meaning “porch.” It describes the roofed entrance to a building that is supported by columns and often having a
pronounced poh-ZEHR / POH-zer)
Whether you spell like the French or pronounce it like the Americans, it means the same thing: someone who is insincere or has an affected air about them. In the same
(pronounced PAW-zeht)
This term has a couple of meanings. First, just like you deposit money in the bank, you can posit — i.e., set or fix — something in place. Posit
(pronounced pohst AH-kyuh-pan-see ih-val-yu-AY-shun / PEE-OH-EE)
A P.O.E. (or just POE), as its name implies, is a methodical assessment of a building from the occupants’ perspective. With the goal of figuring out ways to improve
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