The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He says that using words like “leader” and “follower” actually works better...
A listener in Shreveport, Louisiana, reports that after a fine meal, her father used to announce, “I have dined sufficiently, and I have been well surossified.” It’s a joking exaggeration of the word satisfied. In a 1980 article in...
“Raise hell and put a chunk under it” is simply an intensified version of the phrase “raise hell,” meaning “to cause trouble” or “create a noisy disturbance.” This is part of a complete episode...
Janie in Gainesville, Florida, remembers her grandmother Othella Mae Hatfield’s Appalachian version of an old anti-wishing proverb: “Wish in one hand and tacky in the other, and tell me which one gets full first.” Tacky here is probably a family...