Kathy in Beaumont, Pennsylvania, is a college instructor whose son is dating someone who is non-binary. Kathy’s eager to be supportive, but still struggles with using their preferred pronouns in a way that feels second-nature. Using language...
Kathy in Rye, New York, used to live in Central Pennsylvania, where she was surprised by a friend announcing The coffee’s all meaning “The coffee’s all gone.” This phrase is a vestige of Pennsylvania Dutch, a dialect of...
Kathy in Jacksonville, North Carolina, likes to urge her kids to go outside and play, but is searching for a word or phrase that denotes “the out of doors” without referencing an edifice. Some possibilities: al fresco from Italian, for...
Kathy from Evansville, Indiana, is bothered when she hears younger people use to verse as a verb, as in “Who are they versing?” and “We versed that team last week.” This term arose out of misunderstanding versus, a...
Ever seen a bug so big it could stand flat-footed and kiss a turkey? Kathy from Greensboro, North Carolina, called to share some classic idioms her Georgia grandmother would use to describe bugs, like those gallon-nipper mosquitos and Chatham County...
A La Mesa, California, woman thinks the term from 1970s films, jive turkey, deserves reviving. This is part of a complete episode.