Store clerks: If someone asks for a case quarter in change, it means they don’t want two dimes and a nickel or five nickels. They want a single 25-cent piece. Same for a case dollar, case dime, or case nickel. The customer is asking for a single...
The Dictionary of American Regional English has many terms for practical jokes played on newbies, like sending someone out for a bucket of steam, or for pigeon milk, or for a nickel’s worth of dimes. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Happy Valentine’s Day, our sweet baboos! Here are some expressions of love public radio listeners will appreciate. We’re also giving you another brand-new episode, in which we talked about the results of our great knitted hat survey. Turns out...
Hi, all! In the last archive edition before our new season (woohoo!), we cover colorful idioms around the world, portmanteau words, "wooden nickels," "thrice happy," "petered out," and why sneezing makes some people...
What do you eat at a jitney supper? Jitney? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Contents of a Jitney Supper” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Keith from Pendleton, Indiana. Hi, Keith. Welcome to the program. Hello. I’m...
teaser parking n.— «Part of the proposal calls for trying to make transit mall stores more visible and reachable by car. The team suggests narrowing sidewalks and moving artwork to make room for a lane of “teaser parking,” a term that suggests just...

