When David from Warren County, Indiana, visited relatives in Virginia, he heard about an inebriated man who was said to have entered a church and caused a ruckus while sworpin’ down the aisle. In Appalachia, the verb sworp, also spelled swarp...
Orion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, grew up in rural West Virginia on something called Lick Run Road, not far from Mud Lick Road, Turkey Lick Road, and Sanders Run Road. Why do the words lick and run appear in these types of place names? James Hall...
When Matt was growing up in western North Carolina, he heard the word gaum, also spelled gom, meaning a mess. Someone misbehaving might be described as gauming around, or something was gaumed up, meaning messed up, or a person was dismissed as...
Brian in Church Hill, Tennessee, asks about naming a blues-rock-country band Smackin’ Bejeebus, which echoes expressions such as “smack the bejeebus out of you” and “scare the bejeebus out of you.” Bejeebus is a playful variant of bejesus, also...
A woman in San Diego, California, says that when she was making too much noise as a youngster, her dad would gently reprimand her by saying, “You’re a noisy piece of cheese.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
A woman in Virginia Beach, Virginia, says her Appalachia-born grandmother would occasionally say that it was time to string the leather britches or to hang up the leather britches. She was referring to preserving green beans. So why the leather and...