Grant recommends a book for young readers by Rita Williams-Garcia. It’s called One Crazy Summer, and it’s about three girls who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. This is part of a complete...
Biting the bit, heard by Christina in Oakland on the BBC in a political story, may overlap with champing at the bit, meaning eager or raring to go. Horse tack suggests another possible shade in meaning. A horse that bites hard or gnashes at the bit...
Being accused of getting above your raisin’, or above your raising, is a phrase mostly heard in the South to mean acting above the way you were brought up. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Getting Above Your...
An Oakland man is curious about a queasy-making phrase: “a face that could gag a maggot off a gutwagon.” What’s a gutwagon? How’s it used? Why is it used? Yech! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Gag a...
showette n.— «This was especially evident Wednesday night when Wainwright performed a sold-out show—or “showette” as he called it—at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.» —“Rufus Wainright hits the wall with his...
dirt-hustle v.— «He used to press up his own CDs and hand them out for free, just to get a buzz going. The practice of “dirt-hustlin,” as it’s called, is a time-honored tradition in the Bay Area music industry. With no major...