Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he’s also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like “flummox” and “butterfingers.” Also, the life’s work of slang lexicographer...
Janice from Jericho, Vermont, remembers hearing jackpot used to mean trouble in the world of horse racing. That “trouble” sense has been part of the word from the beginning. In early poker, a player needed a pair of jacks to open the betting, so the...