Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...
Inspired by the popular TV series The Bear, Quiz Guy John Chaneski serves up a puzzle about restaurant slang. For example, what one-word bit of kitchen lingo is suggested by the clue: I have two people coming in. Better clean up that ‘low card...
Imagine a time when heroin was marketed for the whole family. It really happened! Also, how Twitter, M&M’s, and Hallmark cards got their names. Plus, restaurant slang, bad juju, having a wild hair, cutting to the quick, and use vs. utilize.
If a waiter marks your date as a WW, you know you’re in for a special bottle of wine. The wine whales, as they’re called, take their name from the Las Vegas gambling whales: those folks who play big at the tables, to the tune of hundreds of...
Alina from Fort Worth asks whether restaurant top, as in two-top, is an acronym. Probably not. It likely comes from the tabletop and its place settings, especially the distinction between seating diners at a table and putting them at the bar. Her...
maitre-dish n.— «Both worked at the Fog City Diner; Doug as bartender, Nancy as “maitre-dish.”» —“After a few years, he fit the picture” by Louise Rafkin San Francisco Chronicle (California) July...