Judy from Huntsville, Alabama, recalls her stepmother’s words of encouragement: He that hath a horn to toot and tooteth it not, the same shall not be tooted. This faux-formal bit of advice goes back at least to the 1850s. A variation goes: Toot your...
Judy from New York asks whether enamored of or enamored with is the better choice. In North American English, both constructions appear, but enamored of is more common and less likely to distract readers; British English strongly favors enamored of...
“Too much sugar for a dime” can mean either “too good to be true,” or “more trouble than it’s worth.” Merle Travis and Judy Hayden sing about it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Too Much Sugar” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
ten-days n.—Gloss: in Trinidad and Tobago, a temporary job. «As for being Attorney General, her tenure there is generally referred to as a “ten-days,” which isn’t far out: she kept the seat warm for Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj for less than two months...
prank v.— «Most people born after about 1977 will know that “pranking” is when you call someone up on their mobile phone but hang up immediately afterwards. It’s entered the vernacular as a verb, for example, “I’ll prank you,” or “just prank me.”...
smack shopping n.— «There are two ways to buy on Jellyfish.com. Customers can either search for a specific product and compare the deals offered by participating retailers or they can go “smack” shopping—the term for a group of jellyfish...
