Naomi, a Missoula, Montana, mom who’s writing a magazine essay, wants to know if due diligence is the appropriate term to denote the daily, household chores that her son’s new stepdad has taken on. The verdict: it’s a legal term. If you’re writing...
What do you call tourists in your hometown? In New England, they have leaf-peepers. In Wisconsin, it’s berry-pickers or shackers, as in “people who rent cottages.” Coastal areas have pukers, a reference to people who charter boats but then can’t...
A Wyoming native asks about the origin of her father’s term of approbation, good leather. Grant thinks it might be from baseball, where good leather means “good fielding with a leather ball in a leather glove.” This is part of a complete episode...
An Indiana woman is puzzled about a phrase in the old western song, “I Ride An Old Paint”: “I’m goin’ to Montana to throw the houlihan.” What’s a houlihan? You’ll find one version of the lyrics here. Here are different interpretations of this cowboy...
During the health care debate in Congress, there was lots of talk about an “up-or-down vote.” A Montana listener finds this expression annoying. What’s wrong with plain old “vote”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Up or Down Vote”...
You may remember the call we had from Tony in Encinitas, California. He was curious about the term for an unusual hazing ritual.
