After our conversation about families’ nicknames for household appliances, Luke in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, tells the story of a gesture that evolved in his own family to indicate it’s snack time. This is part of a complete episode.
Jean in Trucksville, Pennsylvania, says her family hasn’t named a household appliance, exactly, although they did christen their compost bin Darth Vader. This is part of a complete episode.
Amanda in Evansville, Indiana, says for some reason her family always referred to their garbage disposal as George, a name that functioned as both noun and verb, as in Just put it in George or You can George it now. Might that be something inherited...
It might be the grooviest new holiday since Burning Man: Hippie Christmas is the annual festivity surrounding the end of the college school year, when students leave perfectly good clothing and household goods by the curb or the dumpster because...
Naomi, a Missoula, Montana, mom who’s writing a magazine essay, wants to know if due diligence is the appropriate term to denote the daily, household chores that her son’s new stepdad has taken on. The verdict: it’s a legal term...
What do you keep in your Fibber McGee drawer? That’s what some people call a catchall container for household items. Grant traces the term for the drawer back to the old Fibber McGee and Molly radio comedy. Whenever Fibber had to fetch...