In this bonus A Way with Words minicast, Martha and Grant step into the historic streets of Marblehead, Massachusetts, where the simple cry of “Down bucket!” could serve as a kind of local password. After they ponder that and other language of “Headers,” you’ll cry “Up for air!”
This minicast was released online and in the podcast feed only on December 11, 2025.
Image by rabesphoto used under a Creative Commons license.
Transcript of “Minicast Bonus: Down Bucket”
MARTHA: You’re listening to an A Way with Words minicast! Grant, if I say, “Down bucket!” — what do you say?
GRANT: I say, “Up for air!”
MARTHA: Yep. That’s what Fred Russell in Marblehead, Massachusetts, tells us is the traditional response. A sort of hometown password used by “Headers” — that’s what Marblehead residents call themselves.
GRANT: He’s right. Headers and historians say “down bucket” supposedly started as a practical warning. Back when Marblehead didn’t have indoor plumbing or a sewer system, people emptied chamber pots out a window. The tale goes that they’d shout “Down bucket!” to warn anyone walking below. If you were from town, you knew to yell “Up for air!” and dive out of the way.
MARTHA: And sometimes you’d hear the whole greeting —“Whip!” followed by “Down bucket!” then “Up for air!” then “Rock ’em!”
GRANT: “Whip” on its own had a lot of uses. It was a greeting, t was a call for help. “Rock ’em” could be friendly, but it also had teeth. It was used as a cheer during sports events, but also during street fights.
MARTHA: I see there’s a story from the 1870s about a boatload of rowdy daytrippers up from Boston. When these outsiders pushed off from the wharf, Marbleheaders hurled rocks at them and shouted, “Rock ’em round the corner!”
GRANT: There’s also other charming Marblehead vocabulary. “Crimmy” meant cold. “Grouty” meant cranky, coming as it does from “grout,” meaning a sour apple. “Cautch” C-A-U-T-C-H was a mess or spoiled food. “Squael” S-Q-U-A-E-L meant to throw, as in throwing stones at the Bostonians.
MARTHA: Here’s another old phrase from there — “to hell I pitch it.” You’d hear it when someone was finished once and for all. Tired of a job, a project, a headache—you flung it aside and said, “to hell I pitch it.” And it could also be the response to “Down bucket!”
GRANT: Thanks, Fred, for your information. We are warned: If we find ourselves walking the historic streets of Marblehead and we hear a window creak open above us…
MARTHA: You’ll know what to listen for, and — to move fast!
GRANT: If there are local expressions you’d love to share, we’d love to hear them. Drop us a line at words@waywordradio.org.
MARTHA: Or call or text 877-929-9673, toll-free in the United States and Canada.
GRANT: For A Way with Words, I’m Grant Barrett.
MARTHA: And I’m Martha Barnette. Bye!
GRANT: Bye!
