Q. Do you know the meaning of this symbol: §? I saw this symbol from the IRS Codes, but I do not know what it means.

A. The particular symbol you ask about is used to introduce a section or numbered clause. It is called a "section" and its definition is entered in the Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition at the word "section," sense five: "a character used as a mark for the beginning of a section and as a reference mark."

The symbol itself is entered in the "Signs and Symbols" table in the Collegiate on page 1603 under the "Reference Marks" heading.

Q. Fifty years ago, when newspaper typesetters needed to fill a one- or two-line gap, they used a special word to refer to that little informational tidbit. I'm looking for that word, not its alternates (filler, squib, balaam, tidbit or factoid). Searches on the Internet and of the local library have not been successful. I just can’t remember the word! Any help from your word gurus would be much appreciated.

A. Webster's Third New International Dictionary provides the slang term bogus which was used in the same sense as filler, squib, and balaam. Like balaam, bogus would appear to have largely disappeared from usage in this sense in contemporary English.

Q. I saw a definition that would be great to use for my business, but I can't remember the word it defines! Can you help me? The definition is something like "the art of brewing, distilling, and wine making."

A. The word you're trying to remember may have been fermentology. This is not a common word – it appears only in our unabridged dictionary – and it refers to the science of fermentation, especially in regard to the production of alcoholic beverages. Fermentology is the only word that could include all three processes: brewing, distilling, and winemaking.

By the way, there is also a specific word for the art and science of winemaking: enology (also spelled oenology).