You're listening to Away With Words, the show about language, and how we use it.

I'm Grant Barrett. And I'm Martha Barnett. Years ago, while traveling in Argentina,

I heard a great phrase to describe somebody who's very stingy. You know, that guy who never picks up

the check in a restaurant, never gives money to charitable causes. In Argentina, that kind of person

is said to have a crocodile in the pocket, un cocodrilo en el Bolsigio, a crocodile in the pocket.

That means he's not about to reach for his wallet because there's this scary sharp tooth

animal there in his pocket that'll snap his hand off. And I thought that was a really cool

colorful phrase. And I was reminded of this the other day because I just learned that in France,

a stingy person doesn't have a crocodile in his pocket. Instead, he has orsa. He has sea urchins

in his pockets. And you're not going to want to reach in there because ow. And so I started

digging around and it turns out that in various countries, there are various dangerous animals

in the pockets of stingy people. In Brazil, sometimes you would say that there was a scorpion

in somebody's pocket or in Serbia, it's a snake. All preventing you from getting in there and

take out your money. Yeah, yeah, don't play me. My father, who passed on a couple of years ago,

was very, very careful with money, let's say. And I always used to say that he was so tight with

money that he squeezed the nickel till Jefferson screamed. Oh, that's the polite version.

Well, we know that there are people in your life that you love, but there's something about them

that just deserves a colorful phrase. Share them with us 877-929-673 or email words at waywardradio.org.

Hello, you have a way with words. Hey, this is Audrey and I'm from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Hey, Audrey, welcome. Hi, Audrey, welcome to the show. Thank you, thank you. I was calling because I

have a question about the phrase East Jesus nowhere. And kind of my story about how I realized it

was a weird phrase. I'm originally from Arkansas, but I work as a traveling speech therapist and I've

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