Marion from Charleston, South Carolina, encountered uff-da after marrying into a Minnesota family on bumper stickers and in everyday talk. The exclamation comes from Norwegian uff da and works as a flexible interjection for surprise, weariness...
A woman who immigrated from the Philippines to the United States wonders: If you’re studying a second language and start dreaming in it, does that mean you’ve reached the point of fluency? English has adopted several words from her native language...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s puzzle is taking off, literally. The first half of his clue suggests something about a member of his family, and removing the first letter from that answer reveals the family member’s name. For example, his cousin is a lab...
The term bobbery means a noisy disturbance or hubub. The word’s origin is disputed, although one explanation is that it comes from the Hindi exclamation “Bap re!” or literally, “Oh father!” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Bobbery”...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a quiet quiz involving words that are usually shouted. Suppose, for example, someone said, “Excuse me, Mr. Horse, I’d appreciate it if you stopped. What’s the exclamation suggested by this request? This is part of a...
Elizabeth in Billings, Montana, grew up in Ireland using bollix or bollocks to mean making a mess of things, as in “I’ve really bollocksed this up.” The word is related to balls and originally referred to testicles, which helps explain why a...