Does your family have a word for the cardboard tube left over from a roll of toilet paper? A caller says his family refers to them Oh-ah, Oh-ahs. Turns out many families have their own terms for them, including drit-drit, dawda dawda, hoo-hoo, to...
young invincible n.— «In the parlance of the health care industry, Ms. Boyd, whose case remains unresolved, is among the “young invincibles”—people in their 20s who shun insurance either because their age makes them feel invulnerable or because...
A Way with Words is starting a brand-new season! Find out what a motorcyclist wears to keep from getting sunburned– is it a do-rag or a dew-rag? A listener wonders “Why is an undesirable task called a g-job?” Martha shares a trick for remembering...
dipsy-do n.—Gloss: another way of saying “an up and down (motion or change).” Note: The Dictionary of American Regional English has a similar term, “dipsy-doodle”, which is defined as dip in the road, or a “thank-you-ma’am.” «Since he started as a...
haunter n.— «It started out innocently, as these things often do, with a few strings of pumpkin lights. Then I discovered the secondary market in anatomical displays. Medical-school skeletons with misaligned femurs don’t get sent to the dustheap...
DIFM n.— «The union of the two organizations will create a market leader in the small- and medium-sized business web hosting market. The new company will be able to offer Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) web services, adding cross...