I'll Be Your Boo - 4 November 2013

<p>This week on "A Way with Words":  It's the language of Wisconsin: If you're nibbling on slippery Jims or sipping sweet soup, chances are you're in the Badger State. Also, the famous abolitionist whose name became an exclamation. And how to respond if someone says to you, "Well, aren't you the chawed rosin!" Plus, parking garages vs. parking ramps, trouper vs. trooper, my boo, and the possible origin of toodles.<br /><br />FULL DETAILS<br /><br />The robin may be the official State Bird of Wisconsin, but a listener from the Badger State shares a limerick about the unofficial state bird: the mosquito.<br /><br />Boo and my boo are a terms of endearment common among African-Americans, going at least as far back as mid-90s jams like the Ghost Town DJ's' "My Boo." <br /><br />In parts of Wisconsin, parking garages are called parking ramps.<br /><br />The part of a church known as a foyer, vestibule, or lobby is sometimes called the narthex. This word appears to go back to the ancient Greek term for "fennel," although beyond that, its etymology is unclear.<br /><br />What is sweet soup? It's a Wisconsin specialty, made of cherry or raspberry juice mixed with prunes, raisins, and tapioca, and served either warm or cold.<br /><br />Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a twist on a challenge that's a favorite among members of the National Puzzlers League, the classic fill-in-the-blank game called The Flat.<br /><br />The exclamations I'll be John Brown! and I'll be John Browned! have a sticky history, going back to view that the abolitionist John Brown was doing something damnable by arming a slave revolt.<br /><br />Is the correct expression He's a real trouper or He's a real trooper? In its original form, the correct word was trouper, and referred to that the mantra of dedicated actors everywhere, The show must go on!<br /><br />In Wisconsin, a slippery Jim is a kind of pickle.<br /><br />A former waiter in Underhill, Vermont, is annoyed by restaurant patrons who respond to a server's query with I'm good rather than No, thank