Kaitlyn from Rye, New York, is puzzled by people referring to their youth as their salad days. It’s drawn from a metaphor employed at the end of Act One of Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Cleopatra recalls a past dalliance with Julius...
A listener in Plaza, North Dakota, says he tried to signal some teenagers to lower their car window by moving his fist in a circle, but since they grew up with push-button window controls, they didn’t understand the gesture. What’s the best gesture...
The German publisher Langenscheidt declared smombie as the Youth Word of the Year for 2015. A portmanteau of the German borrowings smartphone and zombie, Smombie denotes someone so absorbed in their small, glowing screen that they’re oblivious to...
Complaining about young people’s slang is nothing new. Browsing Google Books, Grant stumbled upon an amusing example from the 19th century called “The Age of Slang.” Oh, my stars and garters! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Young...
Let’s settle this once and for all: George Bernard Shaw is responsible for the sentiment behind the quote, “Youth is wasted on the young.” But Fred Shapiro’s Yale Book of Quotations indicates that the history of the saying isn’t so simple. This is...
Christmas Fooling, the Norwegian tradition of dressing up and visiting folks around Christmas time, was once popular among young Wisconsinites. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Christmas Fooling” You know what a Christmas fool is...
