Novelist Charles Dickens created many unforgettable characters, but he’s also responsible for coining or popularizing lots of words, like “flummox” and “butterfingers.” Also, the life’s work of slang lexicographer Jonathon Green is now available to...
A flat tire is a slang term for the result of stepping on someone’s heel so that their shoe comes loose. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Flat Tire Shoe” Did you see this discussion about what you call it when somebody steps on the...
Would you rather live in a world with no adjectives … or no verbs — and why? Also, who in the world is that director Alan Smithee [SMITH-ee] who made decades’ of crummy films? Turns out that if a movie director has his work wrested away from him and...
What do you call the dirty frozen solid pack of brown snow that gets jammed in the wheel of a car in certain parts of the world during winter? Try crud, fenderbergs, carnacles, snow goblins, tire turds, or chunkers. This is part of a complete...
Martha shares a favorite poem, “The Bagel,” by David Ignatow. Who wouldn’t like to feel “strangely happy with myself”? This and other gems can be found in Billy Collins’ book Poetry 180. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Bagel”...
If you’re driving an 18-wheeler and want to warn fellow truckers about a piece of blown tire lying in the middle of the road, you’d tell them to watch out for the alligator. Come to think of it, the crocodilian reptile and the rubber remnant do...