Alina from Fort Worth asks whether restaurant top, as in two-top, is an acronym. Probably not. It likely comes from the tabletop and its place settings, especially the distinction between seating diners at a table and putting them at the bar. Her...
Anthony in Salt Lake City remembers using frajo for a cigarette in high school in Pueblo, Colorado, where it worked as classroom code alongside Spanglish terms like fedia for money. The word turns up in studies of Mexican-American youth slang from...
If you’ve eaten crispy chicken, you might also have had jo-jo potatoes. Speaking of chicken, ever wonder why colonel isn’t pronounced KOH-loh-nell? Grant and Martha have the answers to those nagging little questions, like the difference...
Washateria, a Texas word for a self-service laundry, puzzled Erica in Indianapolis after she moved from Houston and found everyone saying Laundromat. Both words have trademark histories: Laundromat began as a brand name, and a Texas chain called...
On the menu: necessity mess, potato bargain, and other tasty regional foods that won’t break the bank. Plus, what’s a doomaflatchie? And what do you have to do before you rest on your laurels? Grant and Martha share idioms, proverbs, and...
New York seems to have a doguero on every street corner. Grant shares this Spanglish term for “a hot dog vendor.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Doguero” Here in San Diego, we often find that Spanish and...