alligator arm
n.pl.— «Still, John Lewis wishes he had a quarter for every alligator-arm quip he’s heard. “People always say if my arms were longer, I might reach more balls, but I try not to take it personally,” he said. “I don’t let it bother me because when you play this sport, it’s your talent and your heart that counts, not the size of the man.”» —“Skill and heart, not height, breeding success for Gophers” by Curt Brown Star-Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Oct. 16, 1992. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...