Next time you’re in a bar and in need of an insult, say it like Shakespeare: Thou wanton swag-bellied underskinker! An underskinker is an assistant tapster who draws beer for customers. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Terry from Fort Worth uses smidge, tidge, and shimmy while helping hospital patients shift from a stretcher to an operating room bed. Smidge is a clipped form of smidgeon, probably related to Scots smitch, “a small amount.” Tidge is a recognized...
If you need a Shakespearean insult, there’s always unhandsome smush-mouthed mush-rump. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Unhandsome Smush-Mouthed Mush-Rump” Grant thou unhandsome stretched mouth mushroom. I’m just be over here while...
A young woman in Charleston, South Carolina, owns a boa constrictor named Wayne, and wonders if it’s correct to say that her father isn’t a fan of Wayne’s. Such double possessives are fine, and have been in use for centuries. This is part of a...
Isaac from Portland, Oregon, asks whether the workplace verb for tossing ideas around is spitball or spiffball. The standard form is spitball, from the schoolroom trick of wadding up paper, moistening it with saliva, and launching it at a wall or...
In 1894, the U.S. was in an economic depression, an Ohio businessman named Jacob Coxey led a march on Washington to protest national economic policies. This motley crew came to be known as Coxey’s army, and the phrases “enough food to feed Coxey’s...