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...
In a few parts of the country, such as eastern Wisconsin, the more common term for “water fountain” is bubbler. A man who heard the term frequently in Rhode Island wonders: How did bubbler make it all the way over to Rhode Island, but seemingly skip...
Jamrocks
n.— «Jamrocks (the word is Jamaican patois slang for the island country) is a funky little place.» —“It’s ’Marley and me’ at Jamrocks Grill” by Mary K. Means Bradenton Herald (Florida) June 18, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
brass-plate bank n.— «He was first investigated 20 years ago when he became a subject of a joint Scotland Yard-FBI investigation into so-called “brass-plate” banks on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. The investigation was set up after the tiny...
black starting n.— «The loss of four major transmission lines from Hawaiian Electric’s Kahe power plant last night triggered an island-wide blackout.…HECO was woking last night to restart its generators at Kahe and Waiau, a process called “black...
The British publishers of the Collins dictionary have announced 24 words on their endangered species list. They’re words like “vilipend,” which means “to treat with contempt,” and “nitid,” that’s n-i-t-i-d, which means “glistening. “
