block
n.— «Judy Hines holds the distinction of being one of Denver’s longest working prostitutes. “I started when I was 15, in 1974, working out of an apartment building behind Colfax and Pearl,” said the 46-year-old Hines. “It was easy money. When the easy money left, I decided to hit the block.” The block—slang for the street—is where Hines stayed, for the most part, until January.» —“A lifeline vs. life on the streets” by Amy Herdy Denver Post (Colo.) Mar. 28, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A listener who grew up in Newfoundland remembers her grandfather declaring the fog was thick as burgoo. Turns out burgoo was sailors’ slang for a gray, gelatinous oatmeal—exactly the right image for an impenetrable Newfoundland fog. The word appears...
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...