An Iowa listener says her father was known for being laconic. When the family tried to draw him out by asking his opinion, he’d often respond with the observation Well, I think it takes a big dog to weigh a ton, suggesting something along the lines of “I don’t know. This sounds like a real problem for you.” There are many different variants of this expression, varying according to the large thing — such as a big woman, a big man, a big hog, a big steer — and the weight, such as a thousand pounds, five hundred pounds, a hundred pounds, and fifty pounds. Sometimes the word big itself is also modified as pretty big or mighty big. This is part of a complete episode.
When you’re talking about the location of an inanimate object, is it okay to say that it lives there, as in The peanut butter lives in that cabinet or The flashlight lives on that shelf? Strictly speaking, of course, that object isn’t...
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...
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