A Havertown, Pennsylvania, listener wonders why her mother used to answer queries about how she was doing with phrase that sounded like either fair to midland or fair to middling. Middling has long meant “just OK” or “right in the middle,” and the...
Do you pronounce crayon like crown? This common variation tends to be a Midlands pronunciation. Americans may pronounce this word several ways, as this dialect map shows. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Dialects of...
If you’re fair to middling (or with the g dropped: fair to middlin’), you’re doing just fine. A native of the Tennessee mountains wonders about the origin of this phrase her good-humored grandfather used. As it turns out, fair to...
yo-yo financing n.— «The consumer signed a financing contract with the dealer without fully understanding the terms, or the contract was incomplete or not in writing. The customer assumes the credit deal is finalized and the car is theirs...
juke v.— «Prez soon finds that life as an educator also involves “juking the stats”—police slang for manipulating the numbers to create a positive impression even when there is no positive outcome.» —“‘The Wire’: A Barbed...
Midland Empire n.— «A true hub city and gateway to the West, Billings has become the commercial, health care, and cultural capital of the “Midland Empire,” a vast area of agricultural, mountainous, wilderness, and sometimes...
