1476-Caller-Marlice-Streely by A Way with Words

A listener in Cambridge, Wisconsin, says her mother, who is of Irish descent, used to tell her children to wash their hair so it wouldn’t be streely. This word derives from Irish for “unkempt,” and perhaps ultimately from a Gaelic term having to do with something “flapping” or “undone. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2tZ5QYH

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1476-Caller-Mary-Tuckered-Out by A Way with Words

To be tuckered out, or “tired,” is thought to derive from the image of a starved quadruped that’s so skinny and worn out that it has a “tucked” appearance just behind the ribs. It may have been influenced by an older verb tuck, meaning “to chastise.” http://waywordradio.org via Pocket http://ift.tt/2tuTAM5

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1476-Caller-Noel-Sorry-Charlie by A Way with Words

A Vermont family used to tease one of its members with the phrase Sorry, Charlie! She’s surprised to learn that this catchphrase comes from a long-running series of TV commercials for canned tuna. http://waywordradio.org via Pocket http://ift.tt/2tYO4oq

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1476-Caller-Phil-Hell-In-A-Handbasket by A Way with Words

A Huntsville, Alabama, man finds that his younger co-workers have never heard the phrase going to hell in a handbasket. Although the expression is at least as old as the U.S. Civil War, its etymology remains unclear. In the early 1960s, the humorist H. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2tZ5bqf

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Skedaddle (Full Episode)

The months of September, October, November, and December take their names from Latin words meaning “seven,” “eight,” “nine,” and “ten.” So why don’t their names correspond to where they fall in the year? The answer lies in an earlier version of the Roman calendar. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2qGQsj3

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