If you’re getting flak from someone, it means they’re giving you hard time. The term flak comes from the name for German anti-aircraft guns, Fliegerabwehrkanone, and the deadly metal shot out of them. This is part of a complete episode.
Some people proudly embrace the label cancer survivor, while others feel that’s not quite the right word. Is there a better term for someone who’s battled cancer? Writers and listeners share the best sentence they’ve read all day...
If an older man and woman spend lots of time together, going to family gatherings and the like, but they’re NOT dating, what do you call their relationship? Best friends? Dear friends? Or . . . something else? And a marathon runner who’s...
Oh, the agony of nernees, those little pieces of plastic or metal that seem to have no purpose. Only until you throw them out will you realize how essential they were! This slang term is sometimes used among those who work in technical theater. This...
In high school, were you a jock or a nerd? How about a grit, or perhaps a Hessian, hesher, metalhead, or greaser — the dudes with roughed-up denim jackets, metal boots, and cigarettes in their shirt pockets — are an essential part of the student...
A bartender wonders about the origin of the term jockey box. In his world, a jockey box is a metal container for ice. However, in some parts of the western U.S., a jockey box is the glove compartment of a car, and much earlier, the term referred to...