Dexter in Clintonville, Alabama, reports that his Minnesota-born wife was baffled after she sneezed and he responded with Scat cat! Across the American South, this phrase and variations of it serve as an informal response when someone sneezes. Other versions include Scat there, your son bit your tail off!, Scat, cat your tail’s on fire!, Scat cat, get your tail out of the gravy!, Scat cat, get your tail out of the butter! No one’s sure how this expression came to be, although it may have to do with the ancient belief that a sneeze involves releasing an evil spirit from the body. Other ways to wish a sneezer well, of course, include Bless you!, as well as German Geshundheit!, and Spanish ¡Salud!, both of which literally mean “health.” This is part of a complete episode.
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...
Debbie from Crawfordsville, Florida, says that when she and her husband reach an impasse while working on something, they’ll say Let’s grok about it, which they use to mean “Let’s think about it.” Grok was coined by...
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