James is from southwest Michigan, which was heavily settled by the Dutch. He grew up using the adjective logy, meaning “lethargic,” and was surprised to learn that friends from elsewhere didn’t know the word. He wonders if he knows the word...
Felines have inspired some picturesque terms. In parts of the Midwestern United States, the term cat beer can mean “milk.” The term cat hair is sometimes used as a synonym for “money,” and cat ice is “thin ice.” Cat face refers to the mark on a...
Deanna from Whitefish, Montana, has a dispute with her husband over the definition of potpie. She says it’s a type of soup with dumplings; he says it can’t be called a pie if it doesn’t have a crust. There is such a thing as a pot pie without a...
Janie says that when she moved to Nantucket, Massaschusetts, she’d hear oldtimers there describe something in positive terms by saying it was some good. The some here functions as an intensifier that simply means very. This expression isn’t limited...
Eva in Fairbanks, Alaska, wonders why her grandmother used to say raise the window down when she wanted someone to open that window. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Raise the Window Down” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello...
A Texas caller says her West Virginia-born mother uses the word hornicaboogery to mean “germs” or “the creeping crud.” Among the many such joking names for imaginary illnesses are gollywobbles, collywobbles, carlymarbles, pantod on the rummit, can’t...