Alan in Columbia, South Carolina, says his family used the terms go juking and juking around to refer to hanging out with family and friends, moving around aimlessly, with no particular goal in mind. It’s related to the term juke, also spelled jook...
What’s the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or, record yourself reading the words and definitions and play them back while you’re doing other chores. • Book...
A Huntsville, Alabama, listener says that when someone was being abrasive or mean or defiant, her mother would say she’s got her habits on. This phrase appears in the work of many blues singers, including Lucille Bogan and Bessie Smith, and writers...
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”...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski presented a word game we couldn’t refuse based on the line in The Godfather, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Except in this game, he can’t refuse is replaced with other words that rhyme. This is part of a...
The phrases “Who let the hawk out?” and “The hawk is flying tonight” both mean “there’s a chilly wind blowing.” This saying is almost exclusive to the African-American community and is associated with that Windy City, Chicago. This is part of a...
