The term skinnymalink, or a skinny marink, is one way the Scots refer to someone who’s thin. In the United States, the term goes back to the 1870’s. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Skinnymalink” Hello, you...
Scartle is an old Scots word meaning to scrape together little bits of things, like picking the coins and crumbs out of a car seat. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Scartle” Scartle Myrtle You’re doing a word...
Terry from Fort Worth uses smidge, tidge, and shimmy while helping hospital patients shift from a stretcher to an operating room bed. Smidge is a clipped form of smidgeon, probably related to Scots smitch, “a small amount.” Tidge is a recognized...
Ever try to write a well-known passage in limerick form? It’s harder than you think. How about this one: “There once was a lady who’s sure / All that glitters is golden and pure/ There’s a stairway that heads up to heaven...
In the name of the wee man, a Scots exclamation Dorothy of Fort Worth remembers from Glasgow, is a minced oath in which the wee man refers to the devil. The same words can also simply mean a little fellow, as in a pet name for a grandson. A...
Elise, a seventh-grade teacher in Dallas, Texas, noticed her students using finna in speech and notes, as in finna go to the store. It’s a tight contraction of fixing to, meaning “about to,” common in the American South and Gulf States and also in...