Addie in Neenah, Wisconsin, seeks the origin of a word her grandfather used for gunk that gets stuck, such as a bit of food between one’s teeth. The dialectal term is likely ackempucky, which, according to the Dictionary of American Regional...
An Escanoba, Michigan, construction worker who specializes in plumbing and pipefitting says that when he and his co-workers finish a task just so, they approvingly call it dead nuts. But he wonders if there’s anything obscene about that expression...
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”...
In a few parts of the country, such as eastern Wisconsin, the more common term for “water fountain” is bubbler. A man who heard the term frequently in Rhode Island wonders: How did bubbler make it all the way over to Rhode Island, but seemingly skip...
Who put the piping in the expression “piping hot”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Piping Hot” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett. And I’m Martha Barnette. I love...
pipe-bursting n.— «However, the sanitary districts also used a process called “pipe-bursting,” Carmouche said. In that process, a line was threaded into the sewer. Once inside, he said, it expanded to become a new sewer pipe.» —“Gary makes new push...