Bruce in Indianapolis heard older Indiana farm folks use work-brickle for someone who’s industrious, or, in the negative, not much of a worker. The expression goes back to dialects of the British Isles and survives in U.S. pockets with shifting...
Dan from San Diego asks about sass in don’t sass me, a line he heard on Two and a Half Men. Sass is a dialect pronunciation of sauce, which developed a figurative sense of sting, bite, or zest added to speech, much as a sauce adds flavor to food...
A caller has a hard time remembering which is correct: “Give the book to my husband and me,” or “Give the book to my husband and I.” Martha offers a sure-fire, quick-and-easy way to know if “husband and I” or...
If you’re of a certain age, you may be surprised when someone asks you “hit me up”—and even more so when it turns out he’s asking you to call him on his cell phone. Grant explains how “hit me up” began to take on...
A caller has a friendly disagreement with a pal: Is the expression “tide me over” or “tie me over”? Hint: The answer she gets should tide her over. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Is the Saying “Tide...
DIFM n.— «The union of the two organizations will create a market leader in the small- and medium-sized business web hosting market. The new company will be able to offer Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) web services, adding...