The slang term woke, as in stay woke, arose among African Americans to refer to being aware of social injustice or racism and then doing something about it in one’s own life. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of ““Woke” Means...
Gabe from Newark and Michigan asks about the fighting challenge “Put up your dukes,” a phrase that treats dukes as fists or hands. A familiar explanation connects it with Cockney rhyming slang: Dukes of York rhymes with fork, once slang for “hand.”...
Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he’s also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like “flummox” and “butterfingers.” Also, the life’s work of slang lexicographer...
A flat tire is a slang term for the result of stepping on someone’s heel so that their shoe comes loose. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of ““Flat Tire” Means Stepping on Someone’s Heel and Loosening Their Shoe” Did you...
Since the 1950’s, the term think tank has meant “a research institute.” But even earlier than that, going as far back as the 1880’s, think tank referred “a person’s mind.” Another slang term for one’s...
J. Redding Ware’s 1909 Passing English of the Victorian Era preserves slang that would otherwise vanish with the voices that used it. Its entry for please mother open the door even prints a staff of music, explaining that the phrase expressed...