To give it the old college try means “to put forth one’s best effort.” The phrase stems from the early days of baseball, and arose from tension between the few professional college-educated players and those who’d picked up the game on sandlots. The expression originally had a sarcastic tone, suggestive of grandstanding and flamboyant attempts at impossible plays from people who didn’t have a lot of practical experience, but has since ameliorated. Now it’s used to encourage or console. Variants include the old college spirit and the old college effort. 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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