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...
sideshow n.— «Sgt. Lou Cruz said the boy, whose name was not released, was being driven home by friends just before 4 a.m. Saturday when they were caught in the middle of a sideshow at 90th and Bancroft avenues and someone shot at the...
In this week’s installment of Slang This!, a member of the National Puzzlers League tries to separate the real slang terms from the fake ones. Try this one: If you have chutzpah, might you also be said to “have the stitches” to get...
If someone calls you dibby, should you be flattered or insulted? You’d know if you were in college a century ago—it’s outdated college slang! Also, we are voluntold to play a word puzzle about Unknown Superheroes!
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...