Hallmark Cards got its name from Joyce C. Hall, who bought an engraving shop along with his brothers in 1910. Would it have taken off had they just called it Hall Cards? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Naming Hallmark” We talked...
Nathaniel, a vegetarian in Vermillion, South Dakota, encountered a tavern sandwich after moving from Kansas City and wondered why a word for a drinking place also names a sandwich. The sandwich is a loose-meat sandwich on a hamburger bun, familiar...
For true word nerds, it’s a guilty pleasure. You meet a stranger, and you find yourself listening closely to that person’s way of speaking as you try to guess the accent. Martha and Grant confess they play “Name That Accent” all the time in the...
Kansas City tie-breaker n.— «The “Kansas City tiebreaker” is the term for extra time and it surely makes for exciting football.» —“The Perfect Game” by Mark Dwyer New Canaan News-Review (Connecticut) Nov. 14, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued...
trep n.— «She also owns Dream Wings, a nearly 2-year-old company she started with her mother that raises and sells butterflies for weddings and parties. That’s the “trep” side of Kassidy—teen-age slang for “entrepreneur.”» —“The Kansas City Star...
halfway to India strategy n.— «Two other things give BATS an edge on price. One is what Mr Cummings calls the “Halfway to India” strategy. Being based in Kansas City means his firm can pay its eggheads much less than if they lived in New York...
