Angel says her grandfather, who was from Manning, South Carolina, was a pastor who used to repeat the phrase Amen, Brother Ben, shot a rooster, killed a hen. This expression can express affirmation, and can also serve as a quick, joking way to say grace before a meal, including Amen, Brother Ben, shot a rooster, killed a hen, rooster died, chicken cried, and everybody was mortified and Amen, Brother Ben, shot a rooster, killed a hen, rooster died, chicken cried, and all were satisfied. Shorter versions that get the prayer over with even sooner are Amen, Brother Ben, pass the butter, let’s begin! And Amen, Brother Ben, back your ears and dive in!This is part of a complete episode.
A member of the ski patrol at Vermont’s Sugarbush Resort shares some workplace slang. Boilerplate denotes hard-packed snow with a ruffled pattern that makes skis chatter, death cookies are random chunks that could cause an accident, and...
A resident of Michigan’s scenic Beaver Island shares the term, boodling, which the locals use to denote the social activity of leisurely wandering the island, often with cold fermented beverages. There have been various proposed etymologies...
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