forty-eight
n.— «“Major incident school bus over Northside bridge under the interstate,” the message read. “Five ambulances on scene, one supervisor, multiple 48.” In the parlance of paramedics, “48’s” are fatalities. Dr. Ossmann threw on scrubs and dashed out the door.» —“Deadly bus crash united a team focused on survival” by Brian Feagans Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia) Mar. 3, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Joan from Augusta, Georgia, says her grandfather used to pronounce the word onions as if they were spelled ernions. The word onion is adapted from the French cognate oignon, and thanks to variations in dialect, geography, and other factors, this...
Penny in Savannah, Georgia, recalls that her father, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific, would say of someone who was clueless or didn’t know what he was talking about: That person doesn’t know if he’s punched, bored...