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

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 Americas 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. Ill 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 someones 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.