jitterbug

jitterbug
 v.— «“How can you stop the fighting?” The question puzzles Vincent. He cannot imagine a world in which there is no such “jitterbugging.”…He has been “jitterbugging” since he was about 13 and he is 17 now. But he says he does not enjoy it.» —“Youth Gang Members Tell Of Lives, Hates and Fears” by Harrison E. Salisbury in New York City New York Times Mar. 25, 1958. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Stub Your Toe (episode #1606)

Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...

If Grandma Had Wheels (episode #1603)

While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...