Stacey from Chelsea, Massachusetts, says her grandfather, a Russian immigrant who grew up on New York City’s Lower East Side, used to warn his grandkids with what sounded like Don’t be a come-upper after he’d cleaned the apartment. The expression...
To spin a brodie or pull a brodie is to spin a doughnut in a car. The term derives from the name of Steve Brodie, who allegedly jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886. To do a brodie, originally meaning to jump or fall, came to mean any kind of...
A Chinese-American says she’s not offended by the term “Oriental,” but she’s been told she should be. Who’s right? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Political Correctness of “Oriental”” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this...
This week’s Slang This! contestant, a comic-book illustrator from Providence, R.I., tries to guess the meaning of the expressions “hat-catcher” and “to go shucks.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hat-Catcher” You’re listening to A...