Pungle is the mystery word in a two-choice quiz involving a baby platypus and putting down money. A clue points to western U.S. usage and a thoroughly Anglicized form from Spanish pongale, an imperative meaning “put it there” or “put it down.” This...
What film title, when translated from its Spanish version, is known as An Expert in Fun? It’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off! Now take a crack at decoding these two: Love without Stopovers and Very Important Perros. This is part of a complete...
Five-year-old Timothy in Bainbridge Island, Washington, asks why a draw in tic-tac-toe is called a cat’s game. The exact reason is unknown, but cats turn up in several names for the game and its tied outcomes. In some Spanish-speaking countries, tic...
Why don’t nouns have gender in English they way they do in Spanish, French, or German? Before the Middle English period, nouns in English were either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Over time, however, we’ve moved away from the...
Lock the bad guys up in the hoosegow! This slang term for a jail comes from the Spanish juzgado, meaning tribunal. It’s an etymological relative of the English words judge and judicial. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
The Spanish equivalent of our “bull in a china shop” analogy translates to “like an elephant in a pottery store.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Elephant in a Pottery Store” We were talking...
