We’ve talked before about dog rescue groups’ convention of naming litters of puppies according to a theme. Any idea why a recent litter of pups included Ramp, Slingshot, Kicker, and Flipper? They were all named for terms involved in pinball. This is...
Dallas, who lives in Eugene, Oregon, wonders why we use number one and number two as euphemisms for “pee” and “poo.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Number One and Number Two for Pee and Poo” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
There’s a word for those noble souls who’re picking up litter while they jog. They’re ploggers. The neologisms plogger and plogging are a combination of the English word jogging and Swedish plocka upp, which means pick up. This is part of a complete...
What do you call plastic shopping bags that litter the landscape? Some know them as witches’ britches or witches’ knickers. Others prefer urban tumbleweeds. In the film American Beauty, Ricky Fitts famously called them one the most beautiful things...
paper daisy n.— «Rangers have the unenviable task of picking up what they euphemistically call “paper daisies”—pieces of toilet paper left to blow around. Some people don’t even bury it.» —“Fraser Island a big toilet because of camping” by Brian...
t-shirt bag n.— «There is now a push both at state and local levels to minimize the use of these plastic grocery bags or what the industry calls “t-shirt bags.” “It sticks to everything. In the garbage stream, in the recycling stream, in the litter...
