If you alternate alcoholic beverages with glasses of water over the course of an evening, you’re said to be zebra striping. This bit of slang was inspired by how the animal’s alternating black-and-white markings are like the contrast between the...
In the 1920’s, Americans were warned of a new danger sweeping across the country. This menace that harmed people’s health, ruined minds, and threatened marriages. The culprit? The national obsession with a new form of entertainment: crossword...
An alcoholic who’s been sober for 29 years wonders if she’s overly sensitive to the terms non-alcoholic and alcohol-free being used with reference to food and drink. The problem is that alcoholic has more than one meaning. It can refer to someone...
Gaywater is not the opposite of conversion therapy. It’s a southern American term for whiskey, especially the illegal kind. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gaywater” You know the term gay water? I’ve seen this in South Carolina...
A San Antonio, Texas, listener says some of her friends use the word toasted to mean “drunk” and some use it to mean “high on marijuana.” Which is it? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Toasted Slang” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
To “jump steady” refers to either knocking back booze or knocking boots (or, if you’re really talented, both). It’s an idiom made popular by blues singers like Lucille Bogan. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Jump Steady”...