Jill from Maryville, Missouri, and her 11-year-old son Ryan are wondering about the phrases I have a hankering to do something and I’m fixing to do something. Growing up in East Central Nebraska, Jill heard family and friends use them synonymously...
A woman in Lincoln, Nebraska, says her father, a Missouri cattleman, would answer the question How are you? by replying Couldn’t be better with less in all my life! This is part of a complete episode.
Kerry from Omaha, Nebraska, wonders why smack dab means “precisely in the middle.” Long used in Appalachia and the American South to make a term more emphatic, smack also appears in such phrases as right smack now and smack jam and smack...
For rock climbers, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, the word send has taken on a whole new meaning. You might cheer on a fellow snowboarder with Send it, bro! — and being sendy is a really great thing. Plus: a nostalgic trip to Willa...
Chris in Omaha, Nebraska, asks about the use of the adjective husky to describe the boys’ clothing section in a department store. This coded term refers to clothes made for heavier fellows. Husky was originally a positive term connoting the...
John in Omaha, Nebraska, wonders about a phrase that encourages someone to attend an event or risk being left out or feeling uncool: be there or be square. Don’t fall for the fake etymology about people wearing boxes on their heads! Ditto for...
