Grace in Abilene, Texas, says her grandmother, who was of German descent, would tell children to stop sulking or pouting with a word that sounded to Grace like “mooksie.” Her grandmother was probably using a form of the German dialectal terms mucksig or mucksch, which describe someone “sullen,” “sulking,” “moody,” or “defiant,” and are related to the verb muckschen meaning “to fuss.” In German, a child who is mucksig might express it with a pouty, protruding lower lip, which goes by the fanciful name Schippchen, literally “little shovel.” This is part of a complete episode.
An 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect from southeastern England gives a colorful glimpse of life there in those days. A beever is “an 11 o’clock luncheon.” In parts of Sussex, a ladybug is variously known as a Bishop Barnaby, a fly-golding, or...
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, listener says when he was growing up, his family used the word schmutz as a verb. For example, when one parent reminded the other to apply sunscreen to the youngsters, they might say Make sure you schmutz the kids...
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