Linda from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, gives directions to her remote home by telling people to turn left after the whoopsy-daisy, her term for a sudden dip in the road. There are quite a few colloquial expressions for such abrupt depression or...
Jean in Thetford, Vermont, remembers using the term cherry bump to refer to that moment when part of a backyard swingset leaves the ground for a moment, then lands with a thump. Another term for it is cherry bomb, which can also be used for a...
Belly tickler, dipsy doodle, johnny-come-lately, duck and dip, how-do-you-do, tickle bump, yes-ma’am, thank-you-ma’am, kiss-me-quick, and (especially in Canada) cahot all mean “a bump in the road.” Particularly in southwest Pennsylvania, the term...
Following up on our talk about regional terms for a small, raised section of road, such as tickle bump and belly-tickler, Martha shares a passage from The Guardian Angel by Oliver Wendell Holmes, which references another term for that kind of bump...
bump-out n.— «The streetscape design also calls for an improvement in pedestrian safety. Areas of the sidewalk will protrude into the street, essentially creating pedestrian peninsulas, where walkers can wait to cross the street. The bump-outs, as...
bump n.— «Dreger said data from the blowout, or “bump” as it is known in mining parlance, showed the initial motion of the earth was the same, though smaller in force, to the initial collapse. He said that analysis confirmed that the mine collapse...