If you’ve never dined on funistrada, braised trake, or buttered ermal, you’re not missing out, nor are you alone. All of those are made-up food names that were part of a 1972 survey given to thousands of members of the U.S. military to...
If someone is speaking in a way that’s confused or unintelligible, a Dutch saying applies: Er is geen chocola van te maken describes something incomprehensible, but literally translates as “You can’t make chocolate out of it...
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...