If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term, adapted into English from Dutch, means “an L-shaped tear in a piece of fabric.” And: What’s your relationship with the books on your...
Mary, who grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, says her Illinois-born husband calls a tape measure a billy, a usage he learned from his father, who grew up in Canton, Illinois. English has other slangy uses of billy for long metal objects, including a...
billy-goating n.— «Bell and Hebert’s freestyle-influenced riding differs greatly from what is called “billy goating.” Billy goaters pick intricate lines down the mountain face, hopping and turning into tight rocks and placing themselves...