Cat face is a cute way to describe something like a piece of fruit or a tree that’s grown in on itself, giving it a puckered kind of indentation. Particularly in the African-American community, it’s used to denote a wrinkle to be ironed out. This is...
A stepmother slice, according to a 1915 citation in the Dictionary of American Regional English, is a slice of bread that’s too thick to bite. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Stepmother Slice” I was just paging through the...
Students in New England might refer to playing hooky from school as bunking, or bunking off. Jonathon Green’s Dictionary of Slang traces the term back to the 1840s in the British Isles. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bunking”...
Emily in Colchester, Vermont, asks about hark your racket, a phrase her mother heard from a coworker who called it a Vermont expression meaning “be quiet,” “pipe down,” or “stop complaining.” The exact form is hard to find in print, but Dictionary...
A caller from Madison, Wisconsin, is editing a book about children’s games from the 40’s and 50’s. One of them, hull gull, makes use of the English dialectal term hull meaning “to cover” or “hide.” The game involves guessing how many beans are being...
The epizootic is a type of imaginary ailment. You’d know it if you saw it—it’s like the horse kickles, but you don’t break out. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Epizootic” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, my name is Ken and...
