What do the names bananaquit, invisible rail, and ticking doradito have in common? They’re all bird names. Doradito is a diminutive of the Spanish word dorado, meaning “golden,” while the ticking probably imitates the bird’s call. The rail in the...
Eddie in Queens, New York, wonders why we use the phrase That’s bananas! to describe something wacky. What’s so funny about bananas? There is no single clear origin for why we use “bananas” to mean “crazy,” “wild,” or “nonsensical.” The strongest...
Grant’s is a trivia-obsessed family. He and his wife participate in Learned League, an online trivia competition, and their son Guthrie now participates in Academic League, a high-school quiz league in San Diego, featuring questions from the...
Jackie from Cincinnati, Ohio, wonders about the idiom they look like the end of pea time, referring to someone who appeared disheveled or unkempt. The end of pea time, or the last of pea time, refers to the literal end of pea-growing season, when...
The acronym NIMBY stands for “Not In My Back Yard.” A more emphatic version used among urban planners is BANANA, which stands for Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
A Seattle, Washington, listener wants to know why, when marking time, we say “one Mississippi, two Mississippi,” as opposed to other states or rivers. In the United Kingdom, they’re more likely to say hippopotamus. Some people...