Melissa in Greensboro, North Carolina, has been sparring with the Gen Z members of her family over the shifting meanings of words. Her kids use aesthetic as an adjective to mean “aesthetically pleasing,” as in That’s so aesthetic. They also refer to...
Diamond dust, tapioca snow, and sugar icebergs — a 1955 glossary of arctic and subarctic terms describes the environment in ways that sound poetic. And a mom says her son is dating someone who’s non-binary. She supports their relationship, but...
A speech pathologist in Greensboro, North Carolina, named Linda reports that when none of her coworkers offered to take up a task, their boss voluntold one of them to do it. A jocular combination of volunteer and told, this slang is often heard in...
Ever seen a bug so big it could stand flat-footed and kiss a turkey? Kathy from Greensboro, North Carolina, called to share some classic idioms her Georgia grandmother would use to describe bugs, like those gallon-nipper mosquitos and Chatham County...
Chillary n.—Gloss: a nickname for Senator Hillary Clinton, whose manner is perceived by some people to be too businesslike and impersonal. «Her voice faltered, her eyes glistened, and she appeared to teeter on the brink of tears.…A...
post-K adj.— «In its post-Katrina world—or “post-K’” as they say in New Orleans—the city has lost about a third of its population. But people are coming back.» —“Subtle signs of a city righting itself” by Jeri...
