John in Omaha, Nebraska, wonders about a phrase that encourages someone to attend an event or risk being left out or feeling uncool: be there or be square. Don’t fall for the fake etymology about people wearing boxes on their heads! Ditto for this untrue blog post, which the author himself concedes is fanciful. The practice of calling a straitlaced person square goes back at least to the 1500s. The use of square meaning “uncool” dates to around the 1930s. The rhyming phrase be there or be square is surprisingly modern, going back to the 1960s. This is part of a complete episode.
U.S. President Thomas Jefferson has been credited with the first use of belittled in print. The word appears in his 1785 Notes on the State of Virginia. This is part of a complete episode.
Arthur in New Bern, North Carolina, wonders why we say something that isn’t difficult is as easy as pie when making a pie is a whole lot of work. This phrase most likely refers to the ease of eating a pie, not making one. This is part of a...
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