A caller from Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, wonders about the origin of “knock on wood.” The hosts do, too. More about the unusual language of Ocracoke here. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Knock On Wood” Hello, you have A Way...
Why do subdivisions and office complexes have names invoking landscapes and animals that don’t exist there? A Fort Wayne, Indiana, listener got to wondering about this after passing the “Bay View Apartments” in her hometown: there’s not a bay in...
A caller from Juneau, Alaska, says she was tickled when her friend from the South told her he loves “vye-EEN-ers.” It took a while before she realized he was saying Viennas, as in that finger food so often found a can, the Vienna sausage. So, just...
Cascade concrete n.— «The snow here is often referred to as “Cascade concrete,” “cement” or “crud.”» —“Some snow perfect, but not in Western Washington” by Bill Sheets in Everett, Washington Seattle Post Intelligencer (Washington) Dec. 17, 2008...
fly signs v. phr.— «He said he’s been arrested several times for “flying signs,” street lingo for panhandling on a street corner, and for theft of food and hygiene items at a Roth’s store.» —“Street kids and authority figures struggle to find a...
spoil bank n.— «In the rolling hills just a few miles outside town, a forest of black locust, black cherry and young sugar maple grows from what the locals call spoil banks, mounds of dirt and rock tossed aside by years of strip-mining.» —“Quoth...
