Amy is a historian who leads walking tours in Atlanta, Georgia, but she’s puzzled by the name of a certain roadway there. It’s called Airline Street, but despite its name, it has nothing to do with Hartsfield-Jackson International. The name of this...
A Kentuckian named Sheila moved out of state for several years, but now that she’s returned to work at Western Kentucky University, she finds that many students no longer seem to have a stereotypically “Southern” accent. What’s going on? There is...
Edward in Atlanta, Georgia, asks about the origin and uses of blah, blah, blah, the sing-song stand-in for omitted or tiresome talk. A single blah can mean dull or listless, as in “feeling blah,” while repeated blahs often replace words a speaker...
The expression If you don’t chance your arm, you won’t break your neck makes use of the sense of break your neck meaning “to go all out.” The break your neck part may refer to having success from giving all your effort. Chance your arm, meaning...
A thought-provoking tweet from Lauren (@Elloryn) in Atlanta, Georgia, suggests replacing the words “I’m sorry” with “Thank you.” Instead of saying “Sorry I was late,” try saying “Thank you for waiting for me.” It’s a subtle change, but it powerfully...
wrap-around adj.— «Prime Network offers regionals a national feed which they can access as a wrap-around service to their locally-originated programming.» —“Prime Network adds 2.7 million subscribers” in Atlanta, Georgia Business Wire May 21, 1990...

