If someone’s impatiently pounding on your front door, you might respond Keep your pants on! The origin of this phrase is unclear, though it may be related to keep your shirt on, and other expressions that refer to partially disrobing before a...
Don’t be that kid who grows so frustrated with a neighborhood game that he takes the ball and storms home—you know, a rage-quitter. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rage-Quitters” Sometimes when we talk about language on the show...
shitasmia n.— «It’s so terrible, it induces an entirely new emotion: a blend of vertigo, disgust, anger and embarrassment which I like to call “shitasmia.” It not only creates this emotion: it defines it. It’s the most shitasmic cultural artefact...
Where’d we get the expression “to get someone’s goat”? A caller suspects it comes from a Sicilian folk tale. But does it? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Get Your Goat” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this is Joyce. I’m...
gunnysacking n.— «Gunnysacking is a term for storing up hurt feelings, anger, affronts and unresolved conflicts, and, when the weight of the psychological gunnysack becomes too heavy to bear, unloading it, often to an inappropriate degree in an...
caravanger n.— Note: A blend of “caravan” and “anger.” «Tensions have been increased with the coining of the term “caravanger” to describe car drivers’ likely reaction to having more caravans to contend with.» —“A common sight on the roads this...