When someone says maybe, are they suggesting an option, or merely being polite? A caller from Anna, Texas, met a Canadian who used the word maybe to soften his imperatives. The same effect is often achieved with conditional phrases: “Would you mind...
We spoke earlier about cumshaw artists, or people who get things done by crafty stealing or bartering. Alan Johnson from Plano, Texas, told us a story from his Air Force days in Vietnam, when he and some comrades stole a bunch of plywood by sneaking...
The real problem with texting isn’t how it affects language, but what it does to social interaction. Is there anything more annoying when you’re trying to have a conversation than watching your companion’s eyes flitting to his phone when he sees...
Join us for another slang quiz, in which DeeDee picks “slon doon” as her favorite slang word. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of ““Slon Doon” as an All-Purpose Family Exclamation” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant...
hi-so adj.— «Visitors to Khao San Road “are more hi-so now,” says Pattamon Yaidaeng, invoking the local term for “high society.”» —“A Hippie Haven Goes Upscale” by Newley Purnell in Bangkok, Thailand New York Times Aug. 19, 2007. (source: Double...
groundhopping n.— «Its called groundhopping, and even the hobby’s followers acknowledge it is a little strange.…groundhoppers ticking off matches at this year’s Asian Cup, crisscrossing the region frantically to squeeze in as many as possible in...
