Vanita from Dallas grew up in India calling the table container for salt and pepper a salt-and-pepper cellar, where many Americans would say salt-and-pepper shaker. A saltcellar (yes, usually spelled as one word with no space) is a vessel for salt...
On Nantucket, a rantum scoot, or a random scoot, is a walk with no particular destination in mind. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rantum Scoot” Grant, do you know what a random scoot is? I hesitate to answer that. I...
Ruth from Hanover, New Hampshire, asks about “Balderdash!”, the dismissive outburst for claims that sound like nonsense. The word’s ancestry remains uncertain, despite old attempts to link it with Danish, Icelandic, German, Dutch, Welsh, or Gaelic...
“Hell’s Bells!”, an exclamation along the lines of “darn!”, is likely just variation of hellfire, and reinforced by its rhyme. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of “Hell’s...
Store clerks: If someone asks for a case quarter in change, it means they don’t want two dimes and a nickel or five nickels. They want a single 25-cent piece. Same for a case dollar, case dime, or case nickel. The customer is asking for a...
James from San Antonio, Texas, grew up saying he hadn’t seen someone in a coon’s age, meaning in a very long time. The phrase likely refers to the old folk notion that raccoons live a long time, but because the shortened word has a long history as a...
