Angel says her grandfather, who was from Manning, South Carolina, was a pastor who used to repeat the phrase Amen, Brother Ben, shot a rooster, killed a hen. This expression can express affirmation, and can also serve as a quick, joking way to say grace before a meal, including Amen, Brother Ben, shot a rooster, killed a hen, rooster died, chicken cried, and everybody was mortified and Amen, Brother Ben, shot a rooster, killed a hen, rooster died, chicken cried, and all were satisfied. Shorter versions that get the prayer over with even sooner are Amen, Brother Ben, pass the butter, let’s begin! And Amen, Brother Ben, back your ears and dive in!This is part of a complete episode.
If you start the phrase when in Rome… but don’t finish the sentence with do as the Romans do, or say birds of a feather… without adding flock together, you’re engaging in anapodoton, a term of rhetoric that refers to the...
There are many proposed origins for the exclamation of surprise, holy Toledo! But the most likely one involves not the city in Ohio, but instead Toledo, Spain, which has been a major religious center for centuries in the traditions of both Islam and...
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