Scartle is an old Scots word meaning to scrape together little bits of things, like picking the coins and crumbs out of a car seat. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Scartle” Scartle Myrtle You’re doing a word...
What’s the difference between cavalry and calvary? The first of these two refers to the group of soldiers on horseback and is a linguistic relative of such “horsey” words as caballero, the Spanish horse-riding gentleman, and cavalcade, originally a...
A Somerville, Massachusetts, listener wonders about a phrase her family uses, freeze your caboogies off. Its origin is unknown, and it’s unclear whether it’s related to another term for the backside, bahookie. This is part of a...
What do you say if you have guests over and someone in your family has stray food left on the face? In some households, the secret warning is “there’s a gazelle on the lawn.” But why a gazelle? Also, this week: the term for a party...
This week, it’s headlines that make you do a doubletake, like “Child’s Stool Great for Use in Garden.” Martha and Grant discuss a few of these bloopers, also known as crash blossoms. Also, if you unthaw something, are you...
A Tallahassee listener hates it when realtors pronounce the name of their profession “REAL-a-tor.” Why do they do that? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Realtor Pronunciation” Hello, you have A Way with...