Informal English: Puncture Ladies, Egg Harbors, Mississippi Marbles, and Other Curious Words and Phrases of North America [Paperback]

Gleaned from antiquated dictionaries, dialect glossaries, studies of folklore, nautical lexicons, historical writings, letters, novels, and miscellaneous sources, Informal English offers a captivating treasure trove of linguistic oddities that will not only entertain but also shed light on America's colloquial past. Among the gems are:

• Surface-coal:cow dung, widely used for fuel in Texas
  
• Bone-orchard:in the Southwest slang for a cemetery
  
• Chawswizzled: confounded in Nebraskan idiom. I'll be chawswizzled!
  
• Leather-ears:to Cape Cod inhabitants, a person of slow comprehension
  
• Puncture lady:a southwestern expression for a woman who prefers to sit on the sidelines at a dance and gossip rather than dance, often puncturing someone's reputation

Whether the entries are unexpected twists on familiar-sounding expressions or based on curious old customs, this wide-ranging assortment of vernacular Americanisms will amaze and amuse even the most hard-boiled curmudgeon.Jeffrey Kacirkis the author ofForgotten English, The Word Museum,andAltered English,as well as a daily calendar based onForgotten English.He can be found on the web at www.forgottenenglish.com and lives in Marin County, California.