The term sticky wicket, meaning “a difficult situation” comes from the game of cricket. When wet, the grassy playing field known called the wicket will cause the ball to bounce erratically, creating an unpredictable, challenging surface. The phrases batting on a sticky wicket or playing on a sticky wicket have come to suggest more generally being in an awkward, perplexing situation. Cricket has produced lots of colorful terms, including dibbly-dobbly, silly mid-off, and sledging, the last of these referring to the act of taunting or insulting other players in order to rattle their confidence or concentration. This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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