Dibby meant “fine” in slang collected from Brooklyn schoolgirls about a century ago for Dialect Notes, a journal that gathered regional word lists and glossaries. Much of that student slang vanished, including dibby, while some terms from the same...
What do we call it when new inventions or ideas change the name of something old? It used to be that the word guitar was sufficient, but now we regularly distinguish between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. Same for television, a word that...
ghetto slot n.— «Come September, classical music on Radio 2 will go from 12 hours of programming to five, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.—what die-hard fans refer to as the “ghetto slot.”» —“Revamp misses...
Sketchy, meaning creepy, shady, or possibly dangerous, was all over Katie’s Portland, Oregon, college campus, in phrases like a sketchy part of town and playful extensions such as Sketchyville and Sketchy McSketcherson. This slang sense shows up by...
roast n.— «In musicians’ parlance, a “roast” refers to a particularly challenging gig. I am currently stuck in snowy Gatwick awaiting a plane to the Matterhorn, on the way to a prog-rock roast presided over by the...
A former sociology professor shares a peeve about the language of political pundits: He’s irked when they say a candidate wants to replicate or duplicate his win. The professor explains why he thinks they should eschew those words and instead...
