A trip to the California State Railroad Museum has Grant musing about the way language can change in the mouth of a single individual— in this case, railroad conductors. He recommends a collection of sound files from metros and subways around the...
A one-off is something that is done or made or occurs just once. A Washington State caller who’s curious about the term learns that it derives from manufacturing lingo. This is part of a complete episode.
We hear the word maverick a lot lately, but where did this term for a stubborn nonconformist come from? Martha tells the story of the Texas politician who inspired the word, and whose grandson apparently coined another familiar English word...
This week’s Slang This! contestant, John Schwaller, president of the State University of New York at Potsdam, ponders the possible meanings of the terms donk and “Baltimore wrench.” He offers his own favorite slang term...