desert cooler n.— Note: Wikipedia has a decent entry for this type of air conditioner. Collins is the only mainstream dictionary publisher to include the term, but does so with an outdated definition: “a cooling device in which air is...
Mike from Manchester, Connecticut, asks about wet behind the ears, meaning inexperienced, and wonders if it has to do with milk trickling behind a nursing baby’s ear. Probably not. A more likely explanation, made clear by Charles Earl Funk of Funk...
wet reckless adj.— «Blood tests after her traffic stop Sept. 27 found prescription drugs, but neither booze nor dope. So she was allowed to plead “no contest” to what’s known in California as “wet reckless”—that...
A Wisconsin listener remembers a boss who used to use an odd expression whenever he wanted to change the subject of a discussion. The boss would say, “Well, wet birds don’t fly at night,” then switch to another subject. Grant...
wet-brain drunk n.— «They dropped pills into my mouth from several inches away as if feeding a baby bird, and even the wet-brain drunks wouldn’t come near me.» —“Me and My Girls” by David Carr New York Times July...
drive-by n.— «We went three salmon for seven bites (mine was one of the swing-and-a-misses, commonly called “drive-bys” in the angler’s jargon).» —“Columbia chinook season (and all the wet ‘fun’) ends” by Bill...