Transcript of “Pepper Alley”
We got an intriguing voicemail from Will Hasseltine, who was telling us about the first pep rally he ever attended. It was when he was in kindergarten, and he remembers his teacher getting the kids ready by saying, “We’re going to a pepper alley.” Or at least that’s what he told his mom later that day, that we all went to a pepper alley. And his mom, of course, thought that was really, really funny, that little misunderstanding. But he swears that that’s what his teacher said. “We’re going to a pepper alley.” And Will wanted to know, is there such a thing?
And of course, that’s what I thought was an adorable childhood misunderstanding. But the truth is, there is such a thing as pepper alley. But it’s not the same thing as a pepper alley, which you would do at school where everyone gathers to cheer on the team that’s going to fight in the big game against their dreaded opponents.
That’s right. But if you look in slang dictionaries, you’ll see that pepper alley is actually a state of being beaten up. It comes from boxing slang, where the verb to pepper, of course, means to hit somebody repeatedly. You know, you pepper them with punches.
But it’s also a pun on a place in South London called Pepper Alley, where apparently a lot of this went on. So Will is still convinced all these years that he heard correctly as a kindergartner. I mean, maybe his teacher was from Britain or something.
Right, right. But I suspect it’s just a mishearing, but it’s kind of adorable that he’s still hanging on to the belief that he heard correctly.
Absolutely. Will, there’s probably a really good chance that you misheard. But, you know, keep believing, brother. Grant and I love to hear about those childhood misunderstandings. And you can share yours by calling us 877-929-9673.
