Calley from Bowling Green, Kentucky, wonders about the word zonked, meaning “exhausted.” Like the word conk, as in conked out, meaning “fast asleep,” zonk originally had to do with a blow to the head. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...
Morgan in San Antonio, Texas, wondered why toasted sounded like a reference to alcohol to some readers of her social media post and marijuana to others. Both readings are possible. Toasted broadly means intoxicated, with context and community...
bonk v. in bicycling, to become exhausted. Also bonk out and bonking, n. Editorial Note: Eric Partridge dates this term to the 1930s in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (8e, 1984), but no citations are given. Editor Paul Beale...
