Albuquerque!

 Slang-o-rama is taking a week off while I'm at the (in-person!) Left Coast Crime mystery convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

I'll be appearing on the panel No Skirting the Issue: Female Protagonists in Historical Mysteries along with authors Anne Louise Bannon (moderator), Mariah Fredericks, Dianne Freeman, and Erica Ruth Neubauer. The panel runs Saturday, April 9, 2:45–3:30 p.m. (You can view all the panels for the conference here.)

I will be "back on deck" with more idioms, slang, and fun stuff on April 13. In the meantime, The Online Etymological Dictionary has this bit about the origin of the word Albuquerque and here's a little musical interlude for you: Neil Young's Albuquerque from the album "Tonight's the Night" from 1975 (egads, talk about historical!).