The phrase This ain’t my first rodeo, meaning “This isn’t my first time” or “I already have experience with this” goes back at least as far as the 1981 Joan Crawford biopic Mommie Dearest, where Faye Dunaway as Crawford famously declares, Don’t f— with me, fellas. This ain’t my first time at the rodeo. Later, in 1990, Vern Gosdin brought this version of the expression into country music with his song “This Ain’t My First Rodeo.” Earlier forms of this expression involve such activities as a goat roping, a goat race, pumpkin picking, or a frog race. A still older version from the 1940s goes I’ve been to three state fairs and a goat roping and I’ve never seen anything like this. Another variant: I’ve been to two state fairs, a goat roping, and a frog race…This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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