A caller from Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, wonders about the origin of “knock on wood.” The hosts do, too. More about the unusual language of Ocracoke here. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Knock On...
A caller wonders why his North Carolina-born partner uses the phrase “I’d have liked to” instead of “I almost” or “I nearly,” as in “I’d have liked to died laughing.” This is part of a...
Is that snazzy new car adorbs or bobo? Grant talks about adorbs, bobo, and a few other slang terms collected by Professor Connie Eble of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Adorbs vs...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiz called “States of MIND,” in which the answers are words formed by combining the postal abbreviations of states. Try this clue: “A word that refers to your knowledge or intellectual ability. The...
banky n.— «Shad aren’t native to the Pacific Coast. They were introduced into the Sacramento River in the 1800s and spread north into the Umpqua, then Columbia river systems. At Oregon City, they collect in the swift water below the falls...
This week, we’re going through the e-mail bag. Here’s a savory, sensuous one. It’s from Stacey in Boulder, Colorado.