High school students in Alabama share some favorite slang terms. If someone tells you to touch grass, they’re telling you to get a reality check — but the last thing you’d actually want to touch is dog water! Also, the history of the word hangover...
Vlad in Tucson, Arizona wonders: How did white dog come to be a slang term for whiskey that’s not yet been sufficiently aged? It probably has to do with the natural coloration process, where the whiskey starts out clear (or “white”) and then assumes...
Noah in Charleston, South Carolina, wonders about the origin of hangover, “the unpleasant physical results of drinking too much alcohol.” Does it come from the old penny hang, also called a hangover, a place where people without a place to sleep...
arm hangover n.— «“After the last outing in Tampa I had what I call an arm hangover,” Bannister said. “It was extra sore. I tried to get ready, but I honestly just didn’t have it tonight. I didn’t punch anybody out until that last batter and that’s...
sleep hangover n.— «Those medications can induce next-day grogginess—what some patients call “sleep hangovers.”» —“10 Ways to Get Better Sleep (and Maybe Cure Your Insomnia)” by Lindsay Lyon US News & World Report Mar. 3, 2009. (source: Double...
What does dog hair have to do with hangover cures? Also, where’d we ever get a word like “dude”? And what’s the word for when unexpected objects form a recognizable image, like a cloud that looks like a bunny, or the image of Elvis in a grilled...