A Green Bay, Wisconsin, caller is curious about her mother’s playful interjections. If someone said, “Well,” her mother would add, “Well, well. Three holes in the ground.” If someone started a sentence with “So” she’d interject, “Buttons on your underwear!” Or if someone said, “See,” she’d add “Said the blind man as he picked up a hammer and saw.” And if they were watching a movie and the dramatic tension rose, she’d declare, “The thought plickens!” The caller wonders if those expressions date back to a particular era or context, and says she’s now taught them to her Indonesian husband. This is part of a complete episode.
More from this show
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...