Humorist Roy Blount Jr. sits down with Grant for a conversation about the controversy over writers’ rights, the Amazon Kindle 2, Roy’s recent book, Alphabet Juice, “sonicky” words, and noodling for catfish. He also clears up the mystery of whether...
In a 1936 episode of Jack Benny’s radio show, a woman says that her father sprained his ankle the night before while truckin’. This has an A Way with Words listener confused; she thought trucking was a term from the 1970s. Grant clears up the...
sleeper n.— «Other mystery words I found while perusing my great-grandfather’s papers were “orehano” and “sleeper.” “I haven’t seen any of Wise’s men lately and I have been helping myself to some of his Orehanos and have also caught several...
Time to solve another linguistic mystery. You’re in a restaurant. You overhear a conversation at the next table. The woman says to her friend, “You know, I just love the taste of joe floggers.” And her dining companion replies enthusiastically, “Joe...
yngling n.— «A mystery to anyone without an interest in sailing before those Games, the boat drew headlines after the success of the trio—whose sporting prowess was augmented by good looks—and suddenly there was great interest in the racing of what...
Scottish disease n.— «Where MS comes from and what triggers it remains a mystery, but it is believed to be at least partly hereditary. It is sometimes known as the “Scottish disease” as this country has the highest concentration in the world. It...
