Fernando in San Antonio, Texas, is curious about the use of the term holiday to mean a space on a wall that’s been covered unevenly and requires repainting. This usage goes back to the shipbuilding industry of the 1700s, when workers tarring...
Mia in Sumter, South Carolina, wonders: Is there a better term than adult child to describe one of your children who’s now a grownup? It’s hard to come up with a better, one-word expression for one’s adult offspring, and words such...
What you call the space between mountains depends on which part of the country you’re in. The word gap is used more in the Southern United States, notch in the Northeast, and saddle or pass in the West. See Grant’s analysis of place...
A New York City listener recalls that as a youth in Erie, Pennsylvania, he and his peers referred to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a choke-and-slide or choke-n-slide. It’s a reference to the qualities of the sticky peanut butter and...
Bathroom walls, missing graffiti, and social media. Where have all the cute quips on bathroom stalls gone? We wonder about the apparent decline of restroom graffiti. Are people saving their witticisms for Twitter and Facebook? And: If...
Herblock’s Law is a bummer for anyone who, like Grant, loved the socks sold at The Gap fifteen years ago: “If it’s good, they’ll stop making it.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Herblock’s...