Sam from St. Paul, Minnesota, says his dad often used the expressions Do you think I just fell off the turnip truck? and I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, meaning “I’m not naive” or “Do you think I was born...
Asher in Burlington, Vermont, grew up wondering why his father jokingly called him a little Gomer. The nickname points to Gomer Pyle, the good-hearted goofball from The Andy Griffith Show who later became a U.S. Marine in his own 1960s sitcom. After...
A Georgia caller says when her grandfather had to make a sudden stop while driving, he’d yell “hold ‘er Newt, she smells alfalfa!” This phrase and variations like “hold ‘er Newt, she’s a-headin’ for...
Our American Cousin, the farce being performed when President Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre, had some choice lines of bumpkin talk. One of them, “You sockdologizing old man-trap!,” was the play’s biggest laugh line...
A Vermonter says he’s sometimes called a stump-jumper. Should he be flattered or insulted? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Stump-Jumper” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Jim Sheen. How are you? Doing...