In a 1936 episode of Jack Benny’s radio show, a woman says that her father sprained his ankle the night before while truckin’. This has an A Way with Words listener confused; she thought trucking was a term from the 1970s. Grant clears up the...
quinceañera n. a coming-out party held for a girl’s 15th birthday; a debutante ball or cotillion. Etymological Note: Spanish quinceañera, which also means “a fifteen-year-old girl.” The Spanish pronunciation is similar to keen-say-ah-NYAIR-ah...