Dexter in Clintonville, Alabama, reports that his Minnesota-born wife was baffled after she sneezed and he responded with Scat cat! Across the American South, this phrase and variations of it serve as an informal response when someone sneezes. Other...
Brian in Harvest, Alabama, says his grandfather used to offer him a meat-filled biscuit he called hoomlabbas, supposedly eaten by cowboys in the Old West. Did his grandpa make up the word? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Kathy from Huntsville, Alabama, remembers that her father would entice guests to stay awhile longer with the puzzling phrase We’re fixing to open up a keg of nails. Actually, the keg of nails in this case is a jocular euphemism referencing a...
Remlap, Alabama, and Trebloc, Mississippi, are examples of ananyms—names formed by spelling a word backward, making them a kind of anagram. In the case of the Alabama town, it’s named after the Palmer family, and the Mississippi town is named for a...
Robert from Hamlin, West Virginia, was surprised to while touring with a gospel group to hear Southerners describe an especially good meal as larrupin’ or larruping. The verb larrup means “to strike,” and larruping is one of several...
Maribel in Montgomery, Alabama, reached for to boot after grumbling over a crossword clue, assistance in Alabama, whose answer was hep. In to boot, the boot isn’t footwear. It goes back to Old English bot, meaning an advantage or a remedy, so...
