Nikki in Northampton, Massachusetts, wonders about a term her dad used for someone who’s a little odd or weird: do funny. As far back as the 1850s, Do funny or Doo funny was an amusing last name for characters in satire, whether in newspapers or onstage. Over time it joined a category of terms known as indefinite specifics, words that include doohickey, thingamajig, and whatchamacallit. Starting in the 1920s, there was a play called The Doo-Funny Family (Bookshop|Amazon) that was performed around the country, featuring slapstick and broad humor. In the African-American community, the term has also meant “a gay man.” This is part of a complete episode.
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is...
Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers...
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