“Cornbread,” a poem by Kentucky writer Silas House, is thick with sensory memories of Appalachian cooking and family: scooping cornmeal by hand and “the splash of egg, the gallop of buttermilk.” The poet recalls his mother cooking after work, the...
Look up into the night sky, and imagine that you’ve never heard the term Milky Way. What would you call that glowing band of stars across the heavens? In Sweden, it’s called Vintergatan, or “Winter Street.” In Hawaii, the...
Stephen in Wilmington, North Carolina, called about hankering and unbolted cornmeal. A hankering is a strong desire for something, and the word goes back to at least the early 1600s. It’s related to hang, as in hanging around hoping for something...
A caller wants to know why those deep-fried balls of cornmeal and spices are called hush puppies. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hush Puppies” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Yes, hi, this is Hallie. Hello, Hallie...
eat you food v. phr.— «To “eat you food” is not a reference to removing a cornmeal dumpling from someone else’s plate. It means that the food eater is going to murder you» —“Withdrawals and apologies” by...