Lana in Evansville, Indiana, says all the women in her family affectionately call each other Gert or Gertie. She has discovered that one of her friends also uses the name Gertie as a term of endearment for the women in her own family. Although in this case it seems to function as a generic term, the female equivalent of the names Joe or Mac, for a couple of decades starting in the 1920s, the name Dirty Gertie was slang for “a promiscuous woman,” immortalized in the song “Dirty Gertie from Bizerte,” Bizerte being a town in Tunisia. This is part of a complete episode.
Google Translate has expanded its offerings with 110 more languages, including major languages such as Cantonese, endangered languages such as Manx, and many less-spoken ones like Kallaalisut, used in Greenland, and Latgalian in Latvia. This is part...
John in Omaha, Nebraska, wonders about a phrase that encourages someone to attend an event or risk being left out or feeling uncool: be there or be square. Don’t fall for the fake etymology about people wearing boxes on their heads! Ditto for...
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I’m wondering if the term of endearment, “girly” turned into “gertie” somewhere along the line?