A Wisconsin listener wonders if anyone outside her family uses the word funsel, possibly spelled funcil, to denote “a single strand of leftover cobweb hanging from the ceiling.” That one may be all their own, but another word she asks about, gnurr...
Diana from Tucson, Arizona, reports that when she was young, her Irish grandmother would chase her and her misbehaving siblings around the house yelling, “You omadhauns!” Also spelled amadán, this word of Celtic origin means...
If someone’s sulky or ill-tempered, you can always call them gumple-foisted, a Scottish term. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Sulky, Ill-Tempered Person Can Be “Gumple-Foisted” in Scottish Usage” If you want to...
If you’re tired of saying It’s hot outside, you always say It’s glorgy, pronounced with hard g sounds. This Scottish word may derive from an old word meaning “soft mud.” You could also say the weather is pothery, an...
A Delaware listener recounts a funny story about visiting a friend in Maryland who asked him to retten up the house while she went to the store. He had no idea what she meant, so he just lounged around while she was gone — only to find out later...
In Scotland, a fank is a coil of rope or a snare, a sense that gives rise to fankle, meaning to tangle. As a verb, fankle can also mean to lose the thread of a conversation, and as a noun, it can mean the tangle itself. Earbud cords, for example...
