Tom in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, asks about catawampus, cattywampus, or kittywampus, words used for something crooked, askew, or out of line. The Dictionary of American Regional English records related senses including “diagonally across,” “utterly or...
According to a listener in San Diego, when a DJ plays a great set, he’s said to rinse it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Rinse It” Martha, Sasha in San Diego wrote to share a little slang with us. Sasha is a...
When a theater company gives out free tickets to a performance, it’s called “papering the house.” But what kind of “paper” are we talking about, anyway? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Papering...
Stand back! Farther back! It's another newsletter from "A Way with Words." A brand-new episode hit the airwaves this weekend, in which we took a look at some of the coinages on Barack Obama's name, and at...
flogger n.— «Floggers tend to look like teen ravers in the US, usually wearing jeans, athletic shoes and colorful T-shirts, with a hairstyle that includes a fringe that tends to cover the eyes completely or partially, listen to electronic...
Time for a sports question! If an NFL team has a week without having to play a game during the season, it’s called a bye week. But a caller says he’s also heard bye week refer to a week in which a team draws no opponent. Which is correct...
