Everybody has a nickname, and there’s usually a story to go with it. Martha and Grant reveal their own nicknames and the stories behind them. Also, is the expression “heebie-jeebies” anti-Semitic? And is there a better word than retiree for someone...
In this week’s installment of Slang This!, a member of the National Puzzlers League tries to separate the real slang terms from the fake ones. Try this one: Which of the following expressions really is a British synonym for the willies, the heebie...
Hi-ho! Here's another newsletter from A Way with Words. Over the weekend listeners coast-to-coast got an earful about "druthers," "to vet," "stingaree," "beck and call" and more. Catch up here:...
How-do, neighbor! It’s another issue of the A Way with Words newsletter. This past weekend's show was a brand-new treat, stuffed full of chewy language goodness. We talked about "the vapors," whether "heebie-jeebies" is anti...
A cantor from a synagogue in Nyack, New York, says she’s fond of the expression “the heebie-jeebies” but recently began worrying that it might be anti-Semitic. Did the term “heebie-jeebies” originate as a slur against Jews? The hosts mention a...
ibby-jibbies n.— Note: A variant of “heeby-jeebies.” «Now, personally I’ve always had the ibby-jibbies about putting my amphibians in my refrigerator, for fear of killing them.» —“Re: toads” by Michael R. Hall Usenet: rec.pets Dec. 14, 1990...
