The term kit bag question refers to a question that’s better not asked, lest you suffer a consequence you might otherwise have avoided. It’s a translation of Modern Hebrew she’elat kit bag, a slang expression that arose among members of...
At Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, students use snack for an attractive person: someone who looks like a good snack. A step up from that is whole meal, for someone even more appealing. Snack in this sense is fairly widespread in the United...
The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He says that using words like “leader” and “follower” actually works better...
Hamid in San Diego, California, says that his wife is a job recruiter who finds people to fill high-profile positions. She will come home and say, “This candidate’s a shoo-in.” What’s the story with shoo-in? Where does it come from? It has something...
Cut a chogi is Korean War-era military slang for moving fast, leaving quickly, or taking a shortcut, as Andre in Indianapolis heard from his father-in-law, such as cutting through a parking lot to get somewhere sooner. The form chogi likely comes...
Wrapping up 2016 with words from the past year and some newsy limericks. Bigly and Brexit were on lots of lips this year, as well as an increasingly popular Danish word that means “cozy.” Also, Quiz Guy John Chaneski sums up the year in...