An 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect from southeastern England gives a colorful glimpse of life there in those days. A beever is “an 11 o’clock luncheon.” In parts of Sussex, a ladybug is variously known as a Bishop Barnaby, a fly-golding, or God Almighty's cow. http://waywordradio.org

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The word dezzick is defined in an 1875 dictionary of the Sussex dialect as “a day’s work.” http://waywordradio.org

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Why do some Spanish speakers use adaptations of certain English terms when there's already a perfectly good word for the same thing in Spanish? For example, Spanish cuentas means “bills,” but some Spanish speakers now use the word biles, which sounds like the English equivalent. Similarly, camión means “truck,” but some have adopted the similar-sounding troca, and replaced almuerzo, or “lunch,” with lonche. http://waywordradio.org

1666-Caller-Mary-Anne-Spanish-English-Relationships

John in Tucson, Arizona, remembers his grandfather used the possessives hisn, hern, yourn, and ourn, as in Those cattle are hisn or That house is hern. These archaic forms originated hundreds of years ago, formed by analogy with mine and thine. Their use has persisted in scattered pockets of the United States, Canada, and the U.K. They’re known as possessive forms in the absolute position, which means that they can stand on their own and don’t need a noun to follow them. http://waywordradio.org

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A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, listener says when he was growing up, his family used the word schmutz as a verb. For example, when one parent reminded the other to apply sunscreen to the youngsters, they might say Make sure you schmutz the kids before you go to the beach! The Yiddish noun shmuts means “dirt” or “grime,” as does German Schmutz. Ian’s family may have simply verbed the noun schmutz, a process called denominalization and added it to their familect, or particular way of speaking. http://waywordradio.org

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Grace in Abilene, Texas, says her grandmother, who was of German descent, would tell children to stop sulking or pouting with a word that sounded to Grace like “mooksie.” Her grandmother was probably using a form of the German dialectal terms mucksig or mucksch, which describe someone “sullen,” “sulking,” “moody,” or “defiant,” and are related to the verb muckschen meaning “to fuss.” In German, a child who is mucksig might express it with a pouty, protruding lower lip, which goes by the fanciful name Schippchen, literally “little shovel.” http://waywordradio.org

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The expression to go chalk has to do with rankings in an athletic tournament and harks back to when seeded teams or players were listed on a chalkboard. To pick chalk means “to choose one’s favorite competitor, and you can also speak of a chalk player or a chalky player. Originally, the phrase to go chalk comes from chalkboard rankings in horse racing. http://waywordradio.org

1666-Caller-Dina-Go-Chalk

The expression to run the traps means “to perform due diligence” or “solicit a wide variety of opinions” or “investigate every angle thoroughly.” This metaphor derives from the literal sense of running the traps, which refers to hunting and fishing, where someone inspects an entire line of traps to ensure no animals remain caught in it, each trap has bait, and everything else is in order. http://waywordradio.org

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When describing shoes, which is correct: close-toe, close-toed, or closed-toe? And what about forms of footwear that leave those pedal digits exposed? Open-toe shoes? Open-toed shoes? http://waywordradio.org

1666-Caller-Chris-Closed-Toe-Shoes

Alisa from Memphis, Tennessee, shares a story about her mother emerging from sedation after a significant head injury. Her mom’s first words were Let’s get down to brass tacks. The phrase means “Let’s get to the point” or “Let’s get down to business,” but where did it originate? Word historian Pascal Tréguer notes on his website Word Histories that an earlier version of the phrase was to come right down to the brass, which referred to the brass studs on coffins—in other words, to come right down to the essentials, or to a point as fundamental as the finality of death. http://waywordradio.org

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