In German, ein Korb geben–literally, to “give a basket”–means to “turn down a potential date.” This idiom derives from a medieval legend about castle-dwelling woman. Instead of letting her hair down for a suitor she didn’t fancy, she let down a large basket. He got in, and she pulled it only halfway up, leaving him there to be humiliated in front of the townsfolk. This is part of a complete episode.
More from this show
The so-called “lifestyle influencer accent” you hear in videos on TikTok and YouTube, where someone speaks with rising tones at the end of sentences and phrases, suggesting that they’re about to say something important, is a form of what linguists...
Meg in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, gets why the state highway department encourages drivers to use their blinkers when changing lanes, but placing a digital sign at the Sagamore Bridge that reads Use Ya Blinkah is, well, a lexical bridge too far. Meg’s...