Alan in Columbia, South Carolina, grew up hearing his grandparents ask who wanted to go juking, meaning to ride around, shop a little, eat something, and hang out with no fixed plan. That family use is a tamer cousin of juke or jook, the word behind...
Woodshedding means practicing a difficult musical passage over and over, alone or in a small section, until the notes, rhythm, and performance details are secure. Tim in Tucson, a longtime choral singer, knew it as the frustrating repetition that...
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...
