Louis in Reno, Nevada, grew up in Montreal, Canada, speaking Québécois French. His father was fond of saying j’aime vacher le matin, puis je prends mon temps, meaning “I like to loaf and take my time in the morning.” Vacher comes...
Van from Washington, D.C., is curious about the word fluffle, which supposedly denotes “a group of bunnies.” A friend of hers claimed to have coined this collective noun for lagomorphs along with friends at the University of Alberta in...
When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets a pallet. This word comes from an old term for “straw.” And: What’s the story...
Jeremy Dick, a listener from Victoria, Australia, grew up in Canada loving the movie The Mighty Ducks. But once he moved down under, he realized the Aussies call it Champions. What’s that all about? Do Australians not think ducks are mighty...
pulk n.— «Not such an easy feat when you are moving forward on skis pulling a sled—or pulk, as it is called—with 140 pounds of weight to simulate all the food and equipment that must travel with each polar explorer.» —“Lawyer learns...
creeping crud n.— «Mr. Chrapko agrees. He says he has detected a “steady drift towards communism.” Later, he will describe this as “the creeping crud.”» —“An old-fashioned Western meeting—on...