Tara in Westby, Wisconsin, says her family asks for just a shlook of milk, meaning only a sip or tiny bit more. The word comes from German Schluck, “a swallow,” related to schlucken, “to swallow.” That tracks with her grandmother’s German background...
The Internet Archive offers a wealth of digital books and other publications for free checkout, including the 1948 collection of jokes, riddles, and playground sayings called A Rocket in My Pocket: The Rhymes and Chants of Young Americans. This is...
Fourteen-year-old Harry from Charlotte, Vermont, asks why we say something is clean as a whistle. The phrase refers not to a physical whistle, but to the purity of the sibilant sound. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “As Clean...
Among academics, the word planful is used to describe someone methodical or skilled at planning. Whether this term catches on in the same way that the count nouns learnings has remains to be seen. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Our conversation about the reminder that little pitchers have big ears prompted Cheryl to write from Chicago that she and her friends developed punny way to say the same thing. They just warn each other by saying “Corn!” This is part of...
Lethologica is the inability to remember a word or name. The term is related to the name of the river Lethe, also known as the River of Oblivion, which in Greek mythology caused those in Hades to to forget their life on earth. This is part of a...
