A Tucson, Arizona, couple is still laughing about the husband’s misunderstanding of the term soup tureen. This is part of a complete episode.
Shuba in Sammamish, Washington, grew up in India, where she heard speakers of Indian English refer to an eggplant as a brinjal. She assumed that this was a British English term, but later realized that in Britain, this vegetable is called an...
Nate in Winterville, North Carolina, remembers an older relative asking Are you going to get outside of that? meaning “Are you going to finish that meal?” To get outside of a meal or to climb outside of a meal suggests that you’re...
Watergate salad is a chilled dish of pistachio pudding mixed with whipped cream and pineapple. Although this name capitalizes on the 1970s political scandal associated with Watergate burglary, the salad itself isn’t connected to politics, as...
Angela calls from Albany Township, Maine, because she’s puzzled by the slang she hears from younger professionals in her field. She designs wigs and styles hair for actors, and recently she’s heard them use the word eat in a new and...
When someone is perseverating or worrying too much, some Spanish speakers will suggest they stop obsessing with the phrase no te comas el coco. Literally, it means “don’t eat the coconut,” the word coco in Spanish being slang for...