Pro wrestling, a fake sport with a very real following, has a trove of lingo all its own that can be found in the newsletter and website PW Torch. One saying, “red means green,” refers to the fact that a wrestler who winds up bloody will...
Here’s a lovely bit of ancient graffiti found on the wall of an inn: “We have wet the bed. I admit, we were wrong, my host. If you ask why, there was no chamberpot.” This is part of a complete episode.
A listener from northern New Jersey says that in his part of the state, a sloppy joe was not the mashed-up ground beef sandwich many of us also know as a loose meat sandwich, spoonburger, or tavern. For him, a sloppy joe was a deli meat sandwich...
Martha recalls that as an English major, she nearly memorized William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. He died this month at age 92, and she’ll remember this quote, among others: “Ultimately, the product any writer has to sell is not the...
The term “spitting game,” meaning “to flirt,” comes from African-American slang going back to at least the 1960’s, when game referred to someone’s hustle. It’s well covered in Randy Kearse’s Street...
Here’s a truism that often appeared scribbled in ancient wall graffiti: “I wonder, oh wall, that you have not yet collapsed. So many writers’ cliches do you bear.” This is part of a complete episode.