Jane in Austin, Texas, is curious about the expression how the cow ate the cabbage, meaning to give someone a talking-to. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “How the Cow Ate the Cabbage” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
Travis in Austin, Texas, has a dispute with friends: is the popular sorting game called paper, scissors, rock, as he believes? Or is it rock, paper, scissors? In the United States, the latter is the more common variant, although people have...
An Austin, Texas, listener says he and his buddies are throwing a baby shower for a dad-to-be, but they’re wondering what to call a baby shower thrown for the father. A man shower? A dad-chelor party? This is part of a complete episode...
My dogs are barking means “My feet hurt” or “My feet are tired.” As early as 1913, cartoonist Tad Dorgan was using the term dogs to mean “feet.” If your “dogs” in this sense are “barking,” it’s as if they’re seeking your attention. This is part of a...
In northern Sweden, the word yes is widely communicated by a sound that’s reminiscent of someone sucking through a straw. It’s called the pulmonic ingressive. Linguist Robert Eklund calls this a neglected universal, meaning that...
After our episode that mentioned eponymous laws, we got a call from Darby Venza from Austin, Texas, who came up with this bit of wisdom, otherwise known as Venza’s Razor: Whenever a garden hose or extension cord can catch on something, it will...