What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
Diane in Frankfort, Kentucky, says her mother always pronounced the word wash with an R sound in it. This pronunciation of wash as “warsh” reflects what linguists call the intrusive R or excrescent R, a form of what’s known as epenthesis, or the...
The locals on Cape Cod refer to a newly arrived outsider as a wash-ashore. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Wash-Ashores” Not long ago, we had a conversation with Melinda, who had moved to the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia, and...
Judy from Indianapolis, Indiana, remembers her great-aunt Fanny using the expression take a jaybird, meaning take a sponge bath. She explained it as when you wash under your wings and your tail feathers, and maybe polish off your beak. Great-aunt...
One caller says his grandma’s favorite parting phrase was “See you in the wet wash!” A wet wash was an old-fashioned facility for washing — though not drying — laundry. But it’s anyone’s guess as to why someone would allude to soaked laundry when...
Why do some people pronounce the word wash as “warsh”? Martha and Grant discuss the so-called “intrusive R” and why it makes people say “warsh” instead of “wash” and “Warshington” instead of “Washington.” This is part of a complete episode...