We were invited to Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, to talk with students about slang. During our previous visit in 2018, we learned the apparently hyperlocal slang term forf meaning “to flake out” or “someone who fails to follow through.” This time students reported that this word is still sometimes used. There’s also touch grass, meaning to “get a reality check” or “push away from the computer screen and experience the offline world.” Dog water denotes “something undesirable.” They’re also using giving in a novel way: Someone who resembles a Hobbit might be said to be giving Bilbo Baggins. 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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