Andy in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says co-workers call double-time pay for Sundays and certain holidays working double bubble. The expression is known in Britain as rhyming slang for double pay for overtime, holiday work, or after-hours shifts, with the...
The phrase in like Flynn describes someone who’s thoroughly successful, often with the ladies. Many suspect it’s a reference to the dashing actor Errol Flynn and his sensational trial on sex-related charges. That highly publicized trial...
Pommy, Australian slang for an English person, is often derogatory, and the popular acronym stories are probably backronyms rather than true origins. Jeff from Boones Mill near Roanoke, Virginia, grew up in Australia hearing that it meant Prisoner...
Twittering, tweeting, twirting—it’s rare to see a whole new body of language appear right before your eyes. But that’s what’s happening with Twitter. We discuss the snappy new shorthand of the twitterati. Also, why do people feel...
In this week’s round of Slang This!, a member of the National Puzzlers League tries to separate the real slang terms from the fake ones. For example, which of following expressions is British rhyming slang for “wife”: boiler house...
In this week’s installment of Slang This!, a member of the National Puzzlers League tries to separate the real slang terms from the fake ones. Try this one: Which of the following expressions really is a British synonym for the willies, the...
