In New York and northern New Jersey, a children’s playground slide was once commonly known as sliding pond or sliding pon. The terms reflect the considerable influence of Dutch settlement in that area, the Dutch word baan meaning a “path” and...
An elementary music teacher in Cheyenne, Wyoming, reports that on a cold and windy day, one of her three-year-old students declared that she wished they were all on a sandy beach where they could change into their zucchinis. It was clearly a...
Our conversation about the phrase I beg your pardon reminded Patricia in Greenville, North Carolina, of a playground taunt from her childhood. If one kid said I beg your pardon, another would respond I grant your grace, I hope the cat will spit in...
The taunt neener, neener, neener is more an interjection than a noun or adjective. It belongs to a family that includes nyah-nyah and nanny-nanny-boo-boo. Brett in San Diego remembers it from Southern California playgrounds, where the melody is part...
Why do we say “get out of my bathtub” when we’re in sync on a playground swing with the person next to us? Listeners suggest that maybe it’s because you’re swinging “in sink.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Get out of My Bathtub”...
“Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was black as ink, it chewed the paper off the walls and spit it in the sink.” There’s a variation you probably missed on the playground! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Mary Had a Little...