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...
A young listener wonders: Why do the words icing and frosting both refer to the idea of being cold? The names for this sweet cover on a cake refer to its appearance, not its temperature. Something similar occurs with the glaze in glazed doughnut...
Kelsey from Washington, D.C., says her family uses the term wishing well eggs to denote the the result when you cut a hole in the middle of a piece of toast, break an egg over the hole, and then fry up the whole thing. She’s also heard people...
Among the words added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2024 is babyccino, “a children’s drink consisting of hot milk that has been frothed up with pressurized steam so as to resemble a cappuccino.” Originating in Australia, this...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski serves up a smorgasbord of food-related words. If you’re hungry and can’t think of anything but food, what would you call someone who’s afraid of every little thing? We don’t have beef with this puzzle...
The word pickle is related to a similar-sounding Dutch word, pekel, meaning “brine.” In the 1400s, a pickle was a spicy sauce. Soon the word came to refer to the salty or acidic used to preserve foods, and later to the foods themselves...