Time to solve another linguistic mystery. You’re in a restaurant. You overhear a conversation at the next table. The woman says to her friend, “You know, I just love the taste of joe floggers.” And her dining companion replies...
In this week’s slang quiz, a member of the National Puzzlers’ League from Somerville, Massachusetts, tries to guess the meaning of bottle room and shred, the latter as used in the context of snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing. This...
Ahoy, mateys, and welcome aboard another newsletter from A Way with Words! We are delighted to welcome our new listeners from KTOO in Juneau, Alaska, and WCAI, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The smell of leather-bound books and printer's ink is...
chatter n.— «The Scientific Games Corporation, which dominates the scratch-off market and counts states like Texas and Massachusetts as clients, advises lottery managers to increase jackpots to lure players.…“But like any ‘tool,’ an...
yo-yoing n.— «In the wake of a controversy that engulfed the Derby this fall, two respected Island organizations have asked the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to ban a fishing method known as yo-yoing…a fishing...
foreign load n.— «Servers also learn to cope with what in pub parlance is called a “foreign load.” That’s an inebriated customer who has been kicked out of a bar up the street but managed to pull himself or herself together...