When is a mango not a mango? Why, when it’s a bell pepper, of course! An Indiana listener says she and her Kentucky in-laws have entirely different names for this vegetable. She wants to know why, so we help her sort it out.
Dibby meant “fine” in slang collected from Brooklyn schoolgirls about a century ago for Dialect Notes, a journal that gathered regional word lists and glossaries. Much of that student slang vanished, including dibby, while some terms from the same...
paint job n.— «A Yonex brochure found at its store at the U.S. Open shows Lleyton Hewitt, the company’s high-profile spokesman, playing with the racket manufacturer’s RDX 500 model. But at center court Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium...
Brazil cost n.— «Brazilian companies can be very productive….They all face, however, what is known as the “Brazil cost” to do business, which is paid when they have to ship products through bad highways in most of the country (the...
greenboard n.— «When retiling shower and tub walls, this contractor stands by the outdated practice of using moisture-resistant drywall—commonly called “greenboard”—as a backer board for tile.» —“Not on board with...
party ball n. a five-gallon container of beer, one-third the size of a keg (in the U.S.). Editorial Note: According to numerous articles in the Washington Post, Party Ball was also the now outdated product name for “a lightweight plastic...