A mangle is an old device for squeezing water from laundry. In 19th-century England, this word figured in the discourteous catchphrase Has your mother sold her mangle? The question implies that the person addressed has to make ends meet by selling...
Our conversation about the phrase I beg your pardon reminded Patricia in Greenville, North Carolina, of a playground taunt from her childhood. If one kid said I beg your pardon, another would respond I grant your grace, I hope the cat will spit in...
Allie in Decatur, Alabama, says her mother referred to an impish child as a schnickelfritz. This term for a “young rascal” is often used affectionately and spelled any of several ways, including snicklefritz, snickelfritz, and schnickelfritz. It’s...
The taunt neener, neener, neener is more an interjection than a noun or adjective. It belongs to a family that includes nyah-nyah and nanny-nanny-boo-boo. Brett in San Diego remembers it from Southern California playgrounds, where the melody is part...
cut a promo on someone v. phr.—Gloss: in professional wrestling, to record a promotional video containing taunts and trash talk about an upcoming opponent. «The former Ravens teammates have engaged in a war of words recently—or, to use...
