How did the word gay go from meaning lighthearted to homosexual? Also, why are elementary schools sometimes called grammar schools? Plus, imeldific, gone pecan, random Scrabble words, and the difference between borrow and lend. And the etiquette of...
What is a bingo? If you’re a taxi driver, a bingo is someone you don’t pick up because your cab is already occupied. Another bit of cabbie slang is bunco. That’s when they are called to a specific address but no passenger shows up...
Cabbies are sometimes known to stretch their hood, which means to fib to the dispatcher about their location. Sometimes they have to drive out of bounds to pick up a fare. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Stretch the...
A former cabbie shares his favorite jargon, like green pea and making your nut. Someone waving down an occupied cab is known as a bingo, and the cabbie will usually tell the dispatcher to send another car. A San Diego cabdriver has gathered much...
okada rider n.— «In the main square of Makeni, a couple of hours’ drive into the jungle from Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, young men sit around on their motorbikes, chatting, joking and swapping cigarettes. These are the town’s taxi...
two-centimetre n.— «“You don’t come here in a two-centimetre (slang for a micro-mini).”…It was here on Sunday that taxi drivers and hawkers joined forces to teach one young woman “a lesson.” Nwabisa Ngcukana, 25...
