Brand names, children’s games, and the etiquette of phone conversations. Those clever plastic PEZ dispensers come in all shapes and sizes—but where did the word PEZ come from? The popular candy’s name is the product of wordplay involving the German...
Bridget in Indianapolis, Indiana, knows raunchy as something bawdy or ribald, but her husband’s family uses it to mean “icky,” “unpleasant,” or “under the weather.” She first noticed the difference when his very polite Southern grandmother said his...
It’s hard enough to get a new word into the dictionary. But what happens when lawmakers get involved? New Jersey legislators passed a resolution as part of an anti-bullying campaign urging dictionary companies to adopt the word upstander. It means...
If you’re having difficulty parsing the meaning of the word defugalty, or difugalty, the joke’s on you. It’s just a goofy play on difficulty, one that’s popular with grandparents. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Defugalty vs...
Springtime is the right time to feel twitterpated—you know, you’re smitten beyond a crush. Speaking of relationships, are dog owners really owners, or should they call themselves something else, like guardian or human? And if you’re up for a...
A Kentucky listener and her husband wonder about the proper meaning of the word everloving. Sometimes they hear it used to express frustration, as in, “Why won’t he pass the everloving basketball?”, but other times they hear it used more positively...