Where does the term redneck come from, and is it derogatory? It goes back at least to the 1830s where it pops up in the Carolinas to refer to a farmer that works in the sun. Over time, people like listener Richard Ramirez of Fort Worth, Texas, have...
Ben, who grew up near Pittsburgh and now lives in Olympia, Washington, grew up saying redd up for straightening a messy room, not so much deep cleaning it. The verb redd means to pick up, tidy up, or clear out, as in gathering books, putting away...
We have collective nouns for animals, like “a gaggle of geese,” “a pride of lions,” and “an exaltation of larks.” So why not collective nouns for plants? How about a “greasing of palms,” or a...
Greetings! In last weekend’s archive episode, we wondered who thinks up those crazy names for paint chips. We also discussed “spam” and “gringo,” dashes and semicolons, the term “first annual,” and wearing...
In English, we say that someone who’s egotistical has a big head. But in French, according to a caller, the person is said to have big ankles. Why ankles? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Big Ankles” Hello, you...
Dipper n.— «My exquisite pleasure as a Liberal party man who barely knew a Tory or “Dipper” (as we called NDPers) was to work with people from organized labour, Liberals, Conservatives, ad people and NDPers all in a glorious...
