If you’re in the Ozarks, you might hear the expression that means the same as water under the bridge or spilled milk: “that melon’s busted.” The idea in all three cases is that something irrevocable has happened, and...
Careful what you criticize! Not long ago, some words that sound perfectly normal today were considered gauche and grating on the ear. If the complainers had had their way, we couldn’t say a word like pessimism or use contact as a verb! Also...
Put a plate of milk in front of a cat, and you know that cat will catillate. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Catillate” Here’s another limerick from the Omnificent English Dictionary in limerick form. This is for...
A 1904 dialect collection tipped us off to this variation on the idea of going to the land of milk and honey: “Going to find the honey spring and the flitter tree,” flitter being a variant of fritter, as in something fried and delicious...
The Dictionary of American Regional English has many terms for practical jokes played on newbies, like sending someone out for a bucket of steam, or for pigeon milk, or for a nickel’s worth of dimes. This is part of a complete episode...
Did you know that the word rack can also mean “one thousand,” as in, he has four racks, or four thousand dollars? Here’s another slang term: Gallon Smashing. It’s the latest craze in pranks involving gallons of milk, a...