America's Secret Slang

Many people already know most of the sources. But it is fun to get it all at once.

The programs are a bit too much soundbite, a little too noisy, and disjointed. Still, you may have to take notes and add some of the slang to your repertoire.

I work with foreign colleagues daily. I get questions like what is "Up to snuff?"

If it was not for this great program Icon does not confound them daily.

You will want a copy so you can slow down and watch it over again.

This is a lot more fun than English slang. Sometimes they cross over.

The television program "Bones" uses slang to confuse the squints.

Another good idea gets the sloppy "History Channel" treatment to end up passing along at least as much garbage as it does good information. Why the writers can't do some simple research using reliable sources (like the O.E.D. for example) is beyond me. Though there is SOME good information presented, it is mixed in with so much misrepresentation and so many folk etymologies which are simply wrong, that you can't tell what's real and what isn't. One glaring example is "The Whole Nine Yards," which they claim originated in WWII -- except that there is documentation showing the phrase in use four decades before that time. Scholars of "Word and Phrase Origins" have long acknowledged that we don't know for certain where that phrase came from, but they know many claims that are simply NOT true, including the one made on the program. Don't trust a thing you hear on this show unless you verify it yourself from a credible source. If only the show's staff did that themselves...