A Woodbridge, Connecticut, caller tells the story of coming across the following definition for jungftak in Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary (1943): “n. A Persian bird, the male of which had only one wing, on the right side, and the female...
Does your handwriting look like chicken scratches, calligraphy, or maybe something in between? Martha and Grant discuss the state of penmanship, the phenomenon linguists call creaky voice, euphemisms for going to the bathroom, and the New England...
A man who owns a parrot says that when people see his bird, they invariably ask the question “Polly wanna cracker?” He wonders about the origin of that psittacine phrase, meaning parrot-like. One of the earliest uses of the phrase so far found is...
In this week’s installment of Slang This!, a member of the National Puzzlers League tries to separate the real slang terms from the fake ones. Try this one: Which of the following expressions really is a British synonym for the willies, the heebie...
up-fake n.— «He didn’t visit the foul line once, which is something he’s grown used to. And his team lost to Miami in overtime. This is what coaches euphemistically call a “learning experience.” Only it’s hard to know what a rookie can learn from...
This week’s Slang This! contestant guesses at the meaning of the slang expressions “wigs on the green” and “fake and bake.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Wigs on the Green” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett...
