spit-take n. an exaggerated or surprised reaction in which someone violently expels a mouthful of liquid. Editorial Note: Thanks to Margaret Lethbridge Çejku for suggesting today’s entry. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If something is saucered and blowed, it’s completed. The expression derives from an old tradition of pouring a bit of boiling coffee or tea into a deep saucer, and blowing on the liquid to make it cool enough to drink. This is part of a...
Addie in Neenah, Wisconsin, seeks the origin of a word her grandfather used for gunk that gets stuck, such as a bit of food between one’s teeth. The dialectal term is likely ackempucky, which, according to the Dictionary of American Regional...