Eric from Millbank, South Dakota, says his grandmother used the term duke’s mixture to denote “a hodgepodge,” such as ingredients in a stew. Duke’s mixture was originally the name of a cheap tobacco that was made from leftover odds and...
Gabe from Newark and Michigan asks about the fighting challenge “Put up your dukes,” a phrase that treats dukes as fists or hands. A familiar explanation connects it with Cockney rhyming slang: Dukes of York rhymes with fork, once slang for “hand.”...
sniff n.— «The final diagnosis ended up being “idiopathic bilateral lower extremity paresis”—a fancy way of saying both of his legs were weak, and we didn’t know why. We sent him to a nursing home where he could get some...
SaaS n.— «Intacct—the name is short for “Internet accounting”—exemplifies a broad business trend on the Web often called SaaS—short for “software as a service” and pronounced “sass.”» —“Online...
square stocking n.— «Soldiers, sailors and airmen from the Duke of Lancaster Regiment at Basra Airport will be getting one of 24,500 Christmas gift boxes, or “square stockings” as they are affectionately known, sent out by the Ministry of...
zuke n.— «Besides the locally grown “zuke,” as the vegetable is affectionately known, there are pageants for boys and girls that will choose, for instance, the Duke of Zuke and the festival’s Zuqueenie.» —“From the...