During a live appearance on Louisiana’s Red River Radio, a listener introduced Martha to a phrase worth savoring: when the moistures meet. In the world of traditional farming, where the moistures meet refers to the moment when soil moisture and...
The phrase I reckon meaning I suppose is marked in the United States as rural, rustic or uneducated. The term is centuries old, however, and used widely in the United Kingdom. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “I Reckon in the...
The father of one of Martha’s friends had all sorts lots of funny sayings, like the one he’d use during a lull in a conversation: “Do you live around here or do you ride a bicycle?” He’d also respond to, “Are you...
The US Southern nickname whistle britches likely started with corduroy trousers, whose wales make a soft whistling or swishing sound as a wearer walks. Marshall from Point, Texas, heard his East Texas grandfather use it for men who seemed...
Stanley Wilkins, a listener from Tyler, Texas, shares the idiom nervous as a pole cat in a perfume parlor. A polecat, more commonly known as a skunk, also fronts such gems as mean as a polecat, nervous as a pole cat in a standoff with a porcupine...
Tracy from Sherman, Texas, wonders why her dad always used cabbage as a verb to mean “to pilfer or swipe.” This term goes back to at least the 18th century, when the verb to cabbage had to do with employee theft. Specifically, it...