A woman in Omaha, Nebraska, is puzzled when a friend refers to the fatty tail bump of a cooked chicken as the bishop’s nose. It may have to do with that part’s resemblance on a cooked chicken or turkey to a human nose, or perhaps to a bishop’s...
A man from Fort Smith, Arkansas, says his Canadian wife is baffled by his pronouncing the word cement as CEE-ment. Stressing the first syllable of such words as police, insurance, umbrella, and vehicle is an occasional feature of Southerners’ speech...
An Indianapolis, Indiana, listener says that his mother-in-law was asked by a child where she was going, would jokingly sing that she was “going to the Turkey trot trot trot, across the lot, lot, lot, feeling fine, fine, fine until Thanksgiving time...
Someone who’s being rude or pushy might be said to “have more nerves than a cranberry merchant.” This idiom is probably a variation on the phrase “busier than a cranberry merchant in November,” which relates to the short, hectic harvesting season...
If you’re getting flak from someone, it means they’re giving you hard time. The term flak comes from the name for German anti-aircraft guns, Fliegerabwehrkanone, and the deadly metal shot out of them. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...
Hello, language-lovers — This past weekend’s episode is a delicious re-airing of a show from last spring, tackling great catchprases, Fibber McGee drawers, autocorrected text messages, annoying verbal fillers (“um”) and a whole lot more. Listen...