Robert from Hamlin, West Virginia, was surprised to while touring with a gospel group to hear Southerners describe an especially good meal as larrupin’ or larruping. The verb larrup means “to strike,” and larruping is one of several...
Calisa in Wilmington, North Carolina, wonders about the origin of the term fair to middling, meaning “about average.” It derives from an old system of classifying agricultural products. This is part of a complete episode.
A listener in Fargo, North Dakota, ask which is correct: graduated from high school or graduated high school? Increasingly, the former is falling by the wayside. This is part of a complete episode.
Leah, a nine-year-old from Argyle, Texas, heard her mother answer a question with “No, no, no, absolutely yes.” Why did her mother seem to give contradicting answers at the same time? Short answer: there are two things going on: the...
Diego from Orange County, California, wonders: How did George Washington sound when speaking? We can make guesses about his speech, accent, and dialect based on the historical context. This is part of a complete episode.
An 11-year-old in Tallahassee, Florida, wonders about a phrase her late grandfather used. Instead of swearing, he’d exclaim “I swanee!” or “I’ll swanny!” This mild oath, and its shorter version, “I’ll...