I liked to died when that ol’ toad-strangler crashed through the veranda! The Southernism liked to, also known as the counterfactual liketa, derives from the sense of like meaning “nearly.” This is part of a complete episode...
Here’s a sly Southernism for Sundays: “Each one of his sermons is better than the next.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sly Southern Insult” We’ve talked before, Grant, on the show about how if...
Angela, from Dallas, grew up in northwest Louisiana and calls the wheeled basket at the grocery store a buggy. Her husband, Eric, prefers shopping cart. Dialect surveys show buggy is particularly widespread in the South, including East Texas...
If Sam and them are going to be here after while, can the “and them” mean just one additional person? In some parts of the country, it could be Sam’s wife, or Sam’s entire softball team. A listener from Texas shares this...
All aboard! This week, a bit about the musical language of railroad conductors’ calls: “Anaheim, Azusa, and Cu-ca-monga!” Also, the origin of the military slang term cumshaw, tips for learning Latin, the influence of Spanish...
What’s the possessive of y’all? Is it y’all’s? Y’alls? Y’alls’s? What do all ya’ll think?