What would you bring to a pitch-in? An Indiana transplant shares this newly acquired term for a potluck dinner. Martha points out that the Dictionary of American Regional English has a map showing the distribution of the term, and it’s limited...
Why do we call our biceps guns? The slang lexicographer Jonathon Green suggests that the metaphor first pops up in baseball around the 1920s, when players referred to their throwing arms as guns. Believe it or not, the early baseball pitchers...
fosh n.— «Roger Clemens just started doing the “Fosh” and he’s already got another pitch to make batters” knees bend. Tom Gordon thinks the fosh may be his newest out pitch. Like a dance craze that sweeps the nation, the...
hero bump n.— «And that’s when I hit the moguls, turning my knees hydraulic on Gandy Dancer, a narrow gully of what I call “hero bumps,” perfectly shaped mogul lines on a gradual pitch where I won’t pick up too much speed.» —“What...
cutter n.— «It is a bread-and-butter pitch for many left-handers—the fastball that bores in on right-handed batters, a “cutter” as it is known.» —“Slumping Renteria: ‘I feel bad’” by Lynn Henning in...
Get out your plastic utensils and pull up a folding chair! A caller’s question about the origin of the word potluck stirs up mouthwatering memories of crispy fried chicken, warm peach cobbler, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows. Okay, the Jell...