Vlad in Tucson, Arizona wonders: How did white dog come to be a slang term for whiskey that’s not yet been sufficiently aged? It probably has to do with the natural coloration process, where the whiskey starts out clear (or “white”) and...
Janet in Tucson, Arizona, wonders about a phrase she once saw on a business card: Fortune Favors the Audacious. It’s a translation of a saying that goes back to antiquity, with many variations, including “fortune favors the brave”...
A cataract is not only an eye condition, it’s also a waterfall. And the two uses of the word are related, in the sense that in the ancient world, a cataracta was one of those iron gates that hung outside a city, such as Pompeii, to protect...