Michael from Sherman Oaks, California, says that as a teacher in New Jersey in the 1980s, he heard students saying My word is born, meaning “You better believe me,” and later shortened to simply word. The research of linguist Geneva...
What’s it called when saying becomes sayin’? It’s not a trick question; it’s simply called an abbreviation. Grant and Martha settle an English major’s confusion about the possibility of a trickier term. With words like...
cud n.— «Major Die Breaks are often referred to as “cuds,” a slang holdover term from the 1960s that stuck. A cud occurs when a section of the die face and corresponding shank breaks away and leaves a void in the die in its...
heart attack snow n.— «With temperatures within striking distance of freezing during much of this precipitation event, the snow which falls is to be heavy and fairly wet—what’s often referred to as “good packing” or “heart attack” snow...
heart-attack kids attrib.— «For the second time in five days, the Miami Fusion, Major League Soccer’s heart-attack kids, won a game with a last gasp.» —“A Little Serna Helps Stop Burn” by Paul Lomartire Palm Beach...
forty-eight n.— «“Major incident school bus over Northside bridge under the interstate,” the message read. “Five ambulances on scene, one supervisor, multiple 48.” In the parlance of paramedics, “48’s” are...