A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...
Paul in Centerville, Massachusetts, says his parents, who hail from Brooklyn, New York, always referred to a fire hydrant as a Johnny pump. This term is largely confined to New York City, and may derive from the fact that these sources of water were...
For this week’s episode of Slang This!, we turn the tables on our other Quiz Guy, Greg Pliska. Greg has to figure out the difference between dusting and simping, and between johnny pump and reverse toilet. Those last two sound like things you...
coquito n.— «There was, instead, an opening-day scoop of a Caribbean gelato known as Delicioso Coco Helado, or in English, Delicious Coconut Ice Cream. With little advertising, the carts selling the ice cream, commonly called “coquito,”...

