A caller who grew up in Australia has a question about wedding-invitation etiquette in the U.S. She wonders: Shouldn’t an invitation refer to a daughter’s “marriage with” the groom rather than a “marriage to” him...
A shivaree, also spelled charivari, is a raucous, good-natured hazing for newlyweds. A discussion here about that word prompted lots of listeners to write in with their own stories about shivarees. Martha shares some of them. This is part of a...
yes-and v.—Gloss: To agree to all ideas, act upon them, and embellish them. Note: A staple of improvisational acting. «They stayed for over an hour and completely yes-anded everything we threw at them. There were moments where it felt...
For rain falling while the sun is shining, Elizabeth in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, grew up hearing her Georgia-born mother say the devil’s beating his wife. There are many, many variants, including the devil is beating his wife with a frying pan, the...
planzilla n.— «David Mandel of Los Angeles, an executive producer of the HBO program “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and his bride, Dr. Rebecca Whitney, hired and dismissed two consultants because they were “planzillas.” “It was like we had this...
marital-industrial complex n.— «Wedding experts say that planners are playing an increasingly large role in the marital-industrial complex.» —“Taming the Runaway Wedding Planner” by Vincent M. Mallozzi, Jeffrey...