Especially for logophiliacs

The phrase "brown bagging" has come to mean the practice of putting all one’s medications, vitamins and dietary supplements into a bag and taking them to a doctor or pharmacist to check for interaction problems.

Paul McFedries' Word Spy web site tracks the genesis and evolution of the phrase, as well as other new words.

Paul tells me he often includes health-related terms. "I enjoy doing medical/health words, and they always seem to generate a good response from subscribers," he writes in an e-mail. "I probably average something like three to five of these per month, although, of course, it varies depending on what's going on. For example, I had a few SARS-related posts back in late March and early April."

I plan to subscribe -- it’s free -- to Word Spy’s word of the day e-mail service.