To “jump steady” refers to either knocking back booze or knocking boots (or, if you’re really talented, both). It’s an idiom made popular by blues singers like Lucille Bogan. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Jump Steady”...
To “do me a solid” or “do someone a solid,” meaning “to do someone a favor,” may be related to the slang term solid meaning “a trustworthy prison inmate.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Slang “Solid”” Hello, you have A...
Oh, those saditty gals think they’re all that, don’t they? Saditty, or seditty, goes back to the 1940s, where it first appears in news articles from African-American publications. It applies primarily to women act like they’re better than others, or...
Who is Cooter Brown? And just how high is he? His name appears in lots of phrases, including “high as Cooter Brown,” “drunk as Cooter Brown,” “dead as Cooter Brown,” “fast as Cooter Brown,” and “fertile as Cooter Brown.” The earliest known...
A La Mesa, California, woman thinks the term from 1970s films, jive turkey, deserves reviving. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Jive Turkey” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Oh, hi, Martha. This is Kathy from La Mesa, California...
If someone gives you crazy props or mad props, they’re congratulating you. A Chicago college student wants to know what props means in this context. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mad Props” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
