Monica in Burlington, Vermont, understood right away when a friend said her day got kerfunkulated. Words such as thingamajiggy, doohickey, whatchamacallit, and dumaflache work as placeholders, filling a gap when speakers do not need, or do not want...
Listeners continue to invent names of Greek gods by pronouncing familiar words with the accent on the wrong syllable. There’s Mediocrities, god of “things that are just pretty much okay”; Lotteries, “the god of random...
Noah in Burlington, Vermont, wonders about the catchphrase I’m too cringe for New York, too based for LA. As explained at Know Your Meme, the slang term based is now a positive term popularized by the rapper Lil B, referring to one’s...
After our conversation about mini-seasons between the usual winter, spring, summer, and fall, listeners share other examples: stick season in Vermont and mud season in Michigan. The Old English word for “February,” solmonath, may derive...
After our discussion about altered signs with new meanings, Kitty from Burlington, Vermont, shares a funny story about the letters on the side of a rental truck. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Altered Signs, Altered...
A Burlington, Vermont, listener wants to settle a dispute: Can laughter be described as gregarious? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gregarious Laughter” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Eric George calling...
