In New York and northern New Jersey, a children’s playground slide was once commonly known as sliding pond or sliding pon. The terms reflect the considerable influence of Dutch settlement in that area, the Dutch word baan meaning a “path” and...
In the great tradition of Johnny Carson’s “How cold was it?” shtick: Just how preposterous was that folk etymology? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “How Preposterous Was It?” Grant, I have one more how cold was it. Okay. Yeah. Okay...
In this bonus A Way with Words minicast, Martha and Grant explore the ways foreign place names transform on official maps and in local slang. Discover the stories behind names like “Picketwire” and “Key West,” showing how history and mishearings...
After several weeks in Hawaii, a South Carolina listener returned curious about the terms aloha and aloha spirit. Founded on ideas of mutual respect among humans and in harmony with nature, the concept of the “Aloha spirit” is so fundamental to...
A ski slope groomer in Stowe, Vermont, says he and his colleagues use vehicles that make corduroy, the packed, parallel, ridged surfaces of snow that are perfect for skiing. Another term for corduroy, or someone who wears it, is whistle britches...
A caller in Fort Laramie, Wyoming, refers to a roadside ditch as a borrow pit, as if the dirt dug from it was “borrowed” to form the raised surface of the road. It’s a misinterpretation of the original term, barrow pit, deriving from barrow, meaning...