Laura in San Diego, California, wonders about the tradition of performers saying Toi toi toi to each other backstage to wish each other a good performance. It’s possible that it derives from the ancient idea that spitting three times can ward off...
While fishing from a jetty, Maria in San Antonio, Texas, wondered about this name for a structure extending from the shore out into the water. The word jetty comes to us via the French word jeter, meaning “to throw” (the dance step called a tour...
Endling means the last surviving individual of a species, a word coined in the 1990s by Georgia physician Robert Webster after a patient described herself as the last member of her family line. Webster and a colleague proposed it in a 1996 letter to...
Did you ever take lessons to play the stomach Steinway? You know, the accordion? That’s another bit of musicians’ slang sent in by a listener, along with the term bunhead, which means “a ballet dancer.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...
travesty dancer n.— «Forget about those famous old Russian ballerinas of yesteryear: you haven’t really seen a dying swan until you’ve seen the Trocks, as this company of male travesty dancers is affectionately known.» —“Dance Listings” New York...