A caller shares colorful expressions from her Texas-born mother, including turkey tail and I’m gonna snatch you bald-headed. She also wonders why her mother says bread and butter every time they’re walking together and an object in their...
scrim n.— «“Scrims” were a new word to me. They are shallow areas of gently flowing water (the water comes out from one side and drains at the opposite side). These are only about 1/8-inch deep, shallower than the sole of a shoe. Besides...
hood tax n.—Gloss: a mugging or the things taken in a mugging. «Police say some criminals have taken to calling their robberies at gunpoint of people on Akron streets a “hood tax,” part of a growing number of robberies...
snipe n.— «Networks are also experimenting with something called snipes. Similar to ABC’s icons, snipes are visual effects that take place in the lower right hand corner of the screen during a show. Shows on TNT, for example, may include...
slacklining n.— «We were at the University of Minnesota, where a burgeoning sport called slacklining was being practiced between tall oak trees on the grassy mall in front of Northrop Auditorium. Like its cousin sport of tightrope...
bootleg trail n. a walking path or track worn into the ground by habitual human passage rather than by design. Editorial Note: During Prohibition, the network of people and places that illegally supplied Americans with alcohol was sometimes referred...