ranger
n.— «Just a quick note on a chuckle I had with Australian carpool. They called someone a “ranger” repeatedly before I figured out they meant that the person was a redhead. Like an orangutan. Mean but funny.» —“More Slang” by Claire Guff Journal May 25, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A listener who grew up in Newfoundland remembers her grandfather declaring the fog was thick as burgoo. Turns out burgoo was sailors’ slang for a gray, gelatinous oatmeal—exactly the right image for an impenetrable Newfoundland fog. The word appears...
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...