In southeastern Virginia, a come-here is “an outsider” or “someone who recently moved to the area.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A “Come-Here” in Virginia” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Melinda Blanchard calling...
Contact, when used as a verb, is another word that once prompted peeving. In fact, in the 1930s, an official at Western Union lobbied for a company-wide ban on the word, which he deemed a hideous vulgarism compared to the phrases “get in touch with”...
Is Hoosier a derogatory term? People from Indiana proudly embrace it, but in the dialect island that is the St. Louis area, the word means someone who is uncouth or uncultured. In Southern Appalachia, the related words hoodger, and hoojer still...
A Vermonter says he’s sometimes called a stump-jumper. Should he be flattered or insulted? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Stump-Jumper” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Jim Sheen. How are you? Doing well. How are...
Hockey mom, mavericky, snow machines, and—how could we forget that other memorable phrase from the 2008 presidential campaign?—lipstick on a pig. Some new and not-so-new terms leapt onto the national stage during Gov. Sarah Palin‘s run for the vice...
BOI n.— «Griffin tabbed Grady an “outsider” and said his own roots in the community, as a BOI who grew up in Galveston and Santa Fe, meant he knew the sensibilities of the community.…Grady said that while he was not a BOI, he was a longtime isle...
