Search Results: Language of the Blues (330)

The Conjure Bag has mystical hoodoo powers… Find out it’s usages and meanings in the blues!

Find out what Memphis Minnie & James Cotton were singing about when they talk about a COMB — and how it relates to the Harmonica!

To be cold in hand is an expression from the 1930s that’s been popular in blues, including by Bessie Smith, Bukka White, Big Bill Broonzy and more! Find out what it means!

Coffee grinding is one of many (many!) blues metaphors for sexual intercourse.

White Chicago blues guitarist Michael Bloomfield got the shock of his young life when he was gig with blues legend Muddy Waters — when Waters started talking about how much he loved to suck cock.

Find out the origins of the word “Chump” in the blues, as sang by Blind Blake!

Find out the origins of the famous “Chitlin Circuit”!

In this week’s edition, find out where the famous blues term “Chitlin” (as in “Chitlin’ Circuit” and the famous southern food) came from!

A chinch is an insect known to farmers in the American South as a big pest! Find out how Chinches have bled into the blues!

Few people realize that African slaves imported into the U.S. have had a strong influence on American English.