After our discussion about nieflings and niblings and other collective nouns for “nieces and nephews,” an Eau Claire, Wisconsin, listener offers kindlings, suggesting new beginnings and warmth. This is part of a complete episode.
Is there such a thing as a “neutral” accent, and if so what does it sound like? And that quirk in the way southern Californians talk about freeways. They’ll say things like take the 405 and get on the 8. Why the definite article...
After our conversation about whoopsy-daisy and other terms for a sudden dip in the road, Jane in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, reports that she’s heard people in Wisconsin and Minnesota refer to such a dip as a hoopla. This is part of a complete...
Peter in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, asks how the expression I’m beside myself came to mean “upset” or “unsettled.” The phrase suggests an out-of-body experience and came into English in the 14th century via a French...
Joan in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, asks about hayna, a spoken regional term she grew up with in northeastern Pennsylvania. It’s used as a friendly tag question meaning something like isn’t it? or right? Hayna is an orally transmitted tag question...
A woman in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, remembers a ditty she learned from her mother about “thirty purple birds,” but with a distinctive pronunciation that sounds more like “Toidy poipel blackbirds / Sittin’ on a coibstone /...