Paul in Tucson, Arizona, asks about ragamuffin, a word his mother used for someone with ripped, dirty, or disheveled clothes. The word’s history isn’t entirely clear, but hundreds of years ago, ragman and ragamuffin referred to the Devil, possibly...
Katie, an 11-year-old in Tallahassee, Florida, asks about I swanee, a phrase her grandfather from the mountains of Virginia used when he was frustrated but did not want to swear. The mild oath, also heard as I’ll swanny and shortened to I’ll swan...
