Jerrell in San Antonio, Texas, is curious about the term helter-skelter, meaning “haphazardly.” English is full of such reduplicatives, also called rhyming jingles, flip-flop words, or echo words. They fall into three categories: one...
A listener in Cambridge, Wisconsin, says her mother, who is of Irish descent, used to tell her children to wash their hair so it wouldn’t be streely. This word derives from Irish for “unkempt,” and perhaps ultimately from a Gaelic...
The months September, October, November, and December derive from Latin words that mean “seven,” “eight,” “nine,” and “ten” respectively. So why are they applied to the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and...
Nook-shotten is an old word meaning that something has many corners or projections. Shakespeare used it in Henry V when he spoke about the nook-shotten isle of Albion. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of ““Nook-Shotten” Describes...
Los Angeles, though founded by Spanish speakers, was very, very Anglo by the early 20th century. The “original” pronunciation of Los Angeles has been muddied for a long time. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Cease and desist may seem redundant to the layperson -it’s sort of like saying “stop and stop”— but for lawyers, it’s a leak-proof way to say, stop and don’t ever do this again. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...