The expressive word kench is obsolete, but in the 13th century, it meant “to laugh loudly.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Kench with Me Outside” Here’s a word that I think is worth reviving. It’s kinch, k-e-n-c-h. To kinch in...
When does a word’s past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there’s a particular move that dancers traditionally call a gypsy. But there’s a growing recognition that many people find the term gypsy offensive. A group of...
Among some African Americans, kitchen means the hair at the nape of the neck, the usage Mary in Kenai, Alaska, heard from her granddaughter. The Dictionary of American Regional English records it from the 1970s, and it is especially associated with...