Here’s a clever unparalleled misalignment, in which the word or words in one phrase are each synonyms of the words in the other, but the terms themselves mean different things: break ground and Cleveland. This is part of a complete episode.
David from Plymouth, Wisconsin, wonders about the expression a cord of wood. The phrase goes back to the 17th century and has to do with using a cord to measure a specific quantity of stacked wood. This is part of a complete episode.
In The Timbuktu Review, travel writer Wayne Curtis offers excellent advice about how to resist cliches when writing about visiting a new place. This is part of a complete episode.
An upscuddle, also spelled upscuttle, is defined in both the Dictionary of American Regional English and the Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English (Bookshop|Amazon) as a type of quarrel. A 1913 reference uses the term this way: “If they...
Here’s an unparalleled misalignment, with a punning payoff: sickness pay and coffee. (Get it?) This is part of a complete episode.
Janet in Montgomery, Alabama, reports that a day after she had surgery on her hand, the wound burst open, and a doctor noted that her wound dehisced. She’s used to hearing dehisce used in botany to mean the splitting of a plant structure to...