Finnie, as in I finnie that, is an old expression used to claim something. The term may have arisen from the use of the word fen in the children’s game of marbles, referring to the idea of the fending or making up a rule that defends an action or...
Dan, an accountant in Cincinnati, Ohio, wonders about the origin of the term bean counter. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Why Do We Call Them Bean Counters?” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Dan. I’m calling from...
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
Jackie from Cincinnati, Ohio, wonders about the idiom they look like the end of pea time, referring to someone who appeared disheveled or unkempt. The end of pea time, or the last of pea time, refers to the literal end of pea-growing season, when...
Jackie is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, but discovered when she moved to Chesapeake, Virginia, that people in her new hometown were puzzled by her use of pony keg to mean “convenience store.” It’s a term that’s closely associated with that...
Rachel from Harrogate, Tennessee, says when she was growing up in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, she and her fellow musicians used the term B-flat as slang for “ordinary” or “average.” In the 1938 publication New York Panorama, a guidebook to New York...