When you say, “I’ll get a ride with Pat and Charlie” or “I’m going to go with Pat and Charlie,” you’re talking about walking somewhere. Other colloquial ways to describe traveling on foot include getting...
In June 2018, we appeared in San Antonio, Texas, to support San Antonio Youth Literacy in conjunction with Texas Public Radio. While there, Martha picked up the term blowin’ and goin’, a rhyming compound that means extremely busy, booming, or...
Birdie means to drink from someone else’s bottle or glass without letting your lips touch it, as in “I’ll birdie it.” The same maneuver is also called waterfalling, because the drink is poured through the air into your mouth. Other reported names...
When trying to make themselves understood, kids can be wonderfully creative with language. A couple of examples sent in by listeners: lasterday, referring to any time in the past, and spicy, describing bath water that’s too hot. This is part...
Boustrophedon is writing that changes direction with each line, right to left, then left to right, and back again, like an ox turning at the end of a furrow. The word comes from Greek bous, “ox,” and strophe, “turn.” The same ox root appears in...
Pearl, a youngster in Massachusetts, heard turmeric at dinner over kale and chickpeas and wondered whether her mother’s second-syllable stress matched ordinary dictionary pronunciations. For this spice from India, dictionaries record several...