Office workers in Richmond, Virginia, are having a dispute: Is the appliance that makes the coffee a coffee pot or a coffee maker? This is a classic case of synecdoche, where a single part—like the pot that holds the hot coffee—is used to refer to...
Leanne in Richmond, Virginia, heard sitting high and looking low in a Social Security office, where it seemed to describe an employee acting superior to people waiting for help. The expression is used mostly in African American contexts and is...
A listener from Richmond, Virginia, remembers an old game called buckeye that consists of metaphorically pulling someone’s leg, then calling Buckeye! and tugging one’s own lower eyelid. Martha suggests that it may be related to a 19th...
Ever heard a school bus called a school hack? Grant and Martha explain the etymology of hack, beginning with hackney horses in England, then referring to the drivers of the horse-drawn carriages, then the carriages themselves, and finally the...
cold-in-place n.— «Several miles of lettered highways in the county that were going to be resurfaced using a new method called “cold-in-place.” were also taken off the table.» —“MoDOT brings listening post to Richmond” by...
sexting n.— «Van Hollen said that online sexual predators often use chat rooms to obtain and trade images. He also noted that predators also use cell phones for explicit chat, a practice known as sexting.» —“State AG taking on...
