Jen in Denton, Texas, grew up in upstate New York hearing her Brooklyn-born parents say scutch when someone was being a pest, as in “Don’t be a scutch.” The family spelling she gives is scutch, while a more often seen Italian-American spelling is...
According to Robert Macfarlane’s book Landmarks, long, thin patches of snow that have not yet melted are called snow bones. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Snow Bones” Here’s another term from the book...
A Chicago, Illinois, man says his Appalachian relatives describe a thin or gaunt person as ribey. This adjective probably derives from the Scots term ribe, meaning a tall, scraggly plant, and by extension, a tall, thin person. This is part of a...
A listener in Evansville, Indiana, wonders: Why do we say when something is undesirable that it’s for the birds? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “For the Birds” Hello, you have A Way with Words. My name is Doug...
Our conversation about rebuses and grammagrams prompted several listeners to note that people in scientific fields sometimes use the letters NRG as a stand-in for the word energy. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “NRG...
Leah, a nine-year-old from Argyle, Texas, heard her mother answer a question with “No, no, no, absolutely yes.” Why did her mother seem to give contradicting answers at the same time? Short answer: there are two things going on: the...