whale eye n.— «When a dog turns his head away from you but his eyes are turned as far to the side as possible in your direction, the whites of his eyes take on that crescent shape. When a dog’s eyes take on this appearance, professionals...
clapter n.— «You can prompt applause with a sign. My friend, SNL writer Seth Meyers, coined the term clapter, which is when you do a political joke and people go, “Woo-hoo.” It means they sort of approve but didn’t really like...
Welcome to another edition of the A Way with Words newsletter! On the air this past weekend we chatted with listeners about the driving games "padiddle" and "slug bug," about the pronunciation of "aunt," about the...
day soldier n.— «But they will continue to provide insurgents, I’m sure. What has to happen here is to drive a wedge between the extremist leadership and what I call the “day soldiers,” [insurgents] those who sign up not...
Join us for another slang quiz, in which DeeDee picks “slon doon” as her favorite slang word. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of ““Slon Doon” as an All-Purpose Family Exclamation” You’re listening to A...
blessing-way n.— « My midwife does a blessing-way in which she rubs sacred blue cornmeal on my feet as a sign of supplication to the mother-to-be. » —“Re: Natural Childbirth was GREAT!!!” by Colette Usenet: misc.kids...