Sir Paul McCartney once wrote a song that included the phrase female pulchritude and luminosity. The word pulchritude means “beauty,” but why such an ugly-sounding word for such a lovely thing? Pulchritude derives from pulcher, a Latin word meaning...
A Norwegian slang phrase rendered in English as that’s totally Texas describes a wild, chaotic, or mixed-up situation, not usually aimed at a person. The image comes from the lawless Wild West of old movies and TV, where gunslingers, dusty towns...
We’ve talked before about kids’ funny misunderstandings of words. Martha shares another story from a Dallas, Texas, listener. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Kids Misunderstand Things and Make Us Laugh” We’ve talked before on the...
A Dallas, Texas, listener wonders if his family made up the term gradoo, meaning “grime” or “schmutz.” It’s definitely more widespread than that and may derive from a French term. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gradoo or Gradu”...
Burqueño slang, spoken by residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico, includes such expressions as umbers, said ominously when someone’s caught doing something wrong, as well as get down, meaning “to get out of a vehicle” and put gas for “fill a vehicle’s...
A woman who grew up in Albuquerque recalls that when one of her schoolmates got in trouble, she and their peers would say ominously, “Umbers!” This slang term is apparently a hyperlocal version of similarly elongated exclamations like “Maaaaaan!” Or...
