Why was Iceland originally called “Snowland?” How does “PowerPoint” illustrate “CamelCase”? What does “on fleek” mean? Where did “phub” come from, and what does it mean? What does the emoji Bible look like? Why are some schools banning any comments on personal appearance? The answers to these “potato-chip questions” (because you can’t survive on just one) will be answered in due course, but until then, hustle to your OLLI course-registration page and sign up for The Pleasures of Language. Over ten classes, we’ll take an intense but informal look at contemporary slang, jargon, dialect, catch phrases, etc. in this all-new interactive course. This is not a lecture course; come join us!

Skip Eisiminger is retired from the Clemson University English Department, where he taught History of the Language, Word Study, American Literature, inter-disciplinary humanities, and creative writing for forty-two years. He continues to publish in the South Carolina Review, Weekly Hubris, Serving House Journal, KYSO Flash, and Vocabula.