Daniel in Nicholasville, Kentucky, says his grandfather would warn that if he got in trouble, he’d be in deep yogurt. That’s probably just a euphemism for deep doo-doo, deep foo-foo, or an even stronger epithet piled high. This is part of a complete...
Linda from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, gives directions to her remote home by telling people to turn left after the whoopsy-daisy, her term for a sudden dip in the road. There are quite a few colloquial expressions for such abrupt depression or...
Our Quiz Master John Chaneski has a game that’s all about the letter O. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Phrases with “O” Quiz” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Martha Barnette...
Your mother gave you life, and you gave her … a boondoggle. Or is it a lanyard? Maybe a gimp? Grant assures a listener there are several terms for that long key fob you made at summer camp out of plastic yarn. Boondoggle seems to have originated...
A woman in Racine, Wisconsin, says her father and his fellow bus drivers always pronounced the word schedule as “skeh-DOO-lee.” Is that an accepted pronunciation? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Skehdoolee” Hi, you have A Way with...
“Great Googly Moogly!” A caller wonders where that exclamation comes from.
