Modals are helping verbs that affect a verb’s grammatical mood and express possibility, capability, likelihood, permission, or obligation. The use in the Southern United States of multiple modals, such as might could and might should reflect...
In the Scots language, pree means “to taste” or “sample.” If you pree someone’s mouth, then you give them a kiss on the lips. It’s a variant of the word prove, and cognate with Spanish probar, to “taste...
The English word slob, denoting “an untidy, sloppy, or lazy person,” derives from the Irish Gaelic word slab, which means “mud.” This is part of a complete episode.
If you ever need a term for “a stick lit at one end and waved in the air to form an arc of light,” look no further than Scotland. There, such a plaything is called a dingle-dousie. This is part of a complete episode.
Today, the phrase hue and cry means a clamor or uproar, but in old English law, hue and cry referred to the public outcry during the pursuit of a criminal suspect. Anyone who heard this shouting was legally obligated to join in the chase. This is...
To groak is an obscure verb that means “to look longingly at something, as a dog begging for food. In the Scots language, it’s more commonly spelled growk. This is part of a complete episode.