Depending on its mood, a turkey’s skin can shift from red to blue to white, due to changes in the blood vessels between bundles of collagen. That phenomenon is reflected in the Japanese term for “turkey,” shichimencho (七面鳥), which translates as “seven face bird.” There’s a similar word in Korean. In Ireland, someone who’s arrogant or self-important might be described in one of the following two ways: If you’ve been to Tenerife, he’s been to Elevenerife or If you’ve got an elephant, he’s got the box it came in. Those are just some of the picturesque expressions that writer Adam Sharp has gathered in his book The Wheel is Spinning But the Hamster is Dead: A Journey Around the World in Idioms, Proverbs and General Nonsense. (Bookshop|Amazon). 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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