jitterbug
v.— «“How can you stop the fighting?” The question puzzles Vincent. He cannot imagine a world in which there is no such “jitterbugging.”…He has been “jitterbugging” since he was about 13 and he is 17 now. But he says he does not enjoy it.» —“Youth Gang Members Tell Of Lives, Hates and Fears” by Harrison E. Salisbury in New York City New York Times Mar. 25, 1958. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...
A listener in Unadilla, New York, says her husband, whose family is French-Canadian, uses the phrase That burns my onions when something irritates him. There are several kitchen-related metaphors used to express anger, including that steams my...