Mark from Greenville, South Carolina, has heard that the phrase more bang for your buck originated with the U.S. nuclear weapons program and wonders if it’s true. The expression is more broadly associated with post-World War II U.S. military culture. It appears in some 1953 new articles by syndicated Washington columnist Stuart Alsop about a military restructuring known as the New Look, involving troop cuts and increased reliance on airpower and nuclear weapons. Alsop used the phrase repeatedly, and because his column was widely syndicated, it caught on fast. The word bang traces back to Old Norse, while buck meaning “dollar” may go all the way back to buckskins used as barter on the American frontier. This is part of a complete episode.
Those green plastic strips tucked between cuts of meat in supermarket display cases? They’re parsley runners, the result of recommendations from a professional color consultant hired by a grocery chain in the 1950s. Under bright store lights, the...
Daniel from Gardnerville, Nevada, remembers his aunt had a habit of responding to anyone who left the word so hanging there in mid-conversation with, Sew a button on your underwear. It’s is one of a whole family of playful rejoinders, including Sew...
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