Debbie in Boulder, Colorado, says that while watching K-dramas, she often hears Korean-speaking characters urge someone on with an exclamation that means something like “Go get ’em!” or “Good luck!” and sounds like the word Fighting! It’s an example of Konglish, a combination of Korean and English, often transliterated as Hwaiting! or Paiting! On his blog Gusts of Popular Feeling, Matt VanVolkenburg reports tracing its use back more than half a century. This is part of a complete episode.
When a British tabloid reporter writing about a crocodile attack needed a synonym for crocodile, he went with knobbly monster, now a joking term for similarly creative ways of avoiding repetition. Juliet and Matthew Maguire, described by The...
Sara in Camden, New Jersey, wants a word for those people who are more than acquaintances, but not quite friends. She calls them friendlies, but wonders if there’s a better term. Fracquaintance, maybe? The Danish band Mew has an album called...
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