Andres from San Diego, California, asks about the pokey, an old slang term for jail that still turns up in stories about prison and crime. The jail sense is probably connected with pogie or pogey, once used for a workhouse or poorhouse where people...
It’s time for a round of Name that Tune! What familiar song, translated into Shakespearean English, begins “Oh, proud left foot that ventures quick within, then soon upon a backward journey lithe”? There’s much more to these overwrought lyrics...
Yikes! Come to think of it, what if the hokey pokey IS what it’s all about? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Hokey Pokey” We talked recently about the childhood game of taking the lyrics to familiar songs and making them much more...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words! This past weekend we aired the episode in which we talked about "grouch bag," the pronunciation of "patronize," the origin of "dead heat," and the use of the German...
