If something’s larrupin’ good, it’s spankin’ good or thumpin’ good. It comes from the word larrup, a verb meaning “to beat or thrash.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Angela, from Dallas, grew up in northwest Louisiana and calls the wheeled basket at the grocery store a buggy. Her husband, Eric, prefers shopping cart. Dialect surveys show buggy is particularly widespread in the South, including East Texas...
If someone offered you a croaker with an old man’s face, would you accept? You should! Croaker is a slang term for a hundred dollar bill. Did you ever wonder why we turn up the air conditioning to bring the temperature down? Plus, the tricky...
Gina in Dallas wonders where her Louisiana family got croaker, their slang term for a $100 bill. The evidence is scant, but known examples point mostly to Louisiana, and standard dictionaries apparently do not include this sense. One plausible...
What’s in a pet’s name? Martha and Grant swap stories about how they came up with names for their dogs. Also this week: Have you ever been called a stump-jumper? How about a snicklefritz? And what’s the last word in the dictionary...
A lagniappe is a little something extra that a merchant might toss in for a customer, like a complimentary ball-point pen. What’s the origin of that word? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Lagniappe” Hi, you have A...