If someone’s coming to town Sunday week, when exactly should you expect them? This Scots-Irish term means “a week after the coming day mentioned.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sunday week” Hello...
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...
Couthy is a Scots adjective meaning sociable, agreeable, or friendly, with older senses including snug, plain, and homely. Like couth, the little-used opposite of uncouth, couthy is still around, if a bit old-fashioned. This is part of a complete...
Some speakers of American English use the word whenever to refer to a single event, as in “whenever Abraham Lincoln died.” This locution is a vestige of Scots-Irish speech. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Scots...
A Texas nurse says she’s often teased about her last name, which happens to be “Newby.” She wonders if she should change it and how long the term newbie has been around. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Edward from Indianapolis asks about scarf as in “You really scarfed that down,” meaning someone ate fast and greedily. This verb is unrelated to the garment word scarf; it likely came into English through Scots dialect. Earlier forms include scoff...