The last syllables of Arkansas and Kansas don’t rhyme, but both come from the language of the same Sioux tribe. The name of Kansas was adopted by English-speaking people who came to that area, while the name of Arkansas came from those who were...
When Kentrell from West Memphis, Arkansas, worked for a granite company, his co-workers who were about to put two pieces of granite together would say I’m going to pull a seam. But why would they use the word pull for the action of pushing...
Old Edward’s sayings or Old Edderd’s sayings are homespun bits of wisdom that were dispensed on the radio show Lum and Abner. The show, which ran from 1931 to 1955, featured the fictional characters of Lum Edwards and Abner Peabody, who...
A man from Fort Smith, Arkansas, says his Canadian wife is baffled by his pronouncing the word cement as CEE-ment. Stressing the first syllable of such words as police, insurance, umbrella, and vehicle is an occasional feature of Southerners’...
soil nailing n.— «He estimated that roughly two-thirds of the steep walls required extra attention to shore them up, using an engineering technique called soil nailing.» —“Museum opening delayed to 2010″ by Tracie...
MOAC n.— «Thorne said IED explosions can leave large craters—some as big as 80 feet wide. He said the massive holes are commonly referred to as MOACs, or Mother Of All Craters. “Sometimes they are four lanes wide,” he said. “It will take...