Penny in Savannah, Georgia, recalls that her father, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific, would say of someone who was clueless or didn’t know what he was talking about: That person doesn’t know if he’s punched, bored, or drifted. There are lots of versions, particularly in the United Kingdom and Australia, all of them metaphorically referring to the action of woodworking tools on wood, which included such verbs as drilled, countersunk, reamed, and tapered. Other versions include bored, punched, drilled, or countersunk and punched, bored, or burnt out by lightning. This is part of a complete episode.
Knitters are creating temperature blankets, also known as weather blankets, by assigning colors to daily temperatures and stitching them into finished pieces. Makers involved in The Tempestry Project extend the practice by representing the weather...
Nikki in Charlotte, North Carolina, shares the story of a man who casually told passersby You dropped your pocket, prompting them to check for something that wasn’t there in the first place. That silly saying reminds her of playing pool and trying...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter!
Your co-hosts Martha and Grant send occasional fun messages with language headlines, event announcements, interesting linguistic tidbits, and new episode links. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.
