Stunt performers in movies have their own jargon for talking about their dangerous work. In New York City, the slang term brick means “cold,” and dumb brick means “really cold.” Plus: the East and Central African tradition that distinguishes between...
Whitney from Memphis, Tennessee, is curious about the origin of the phrase to beat the band, which describes something happening in forceful or energetic way. Although the origins of this Americanism are murky, it may refer to a time when every...
Claudia in Gardnerville, Nevada, grew up hearing her mother use beat the band for anything happening with great force or flair, as in it’s snowing to beat the band or she was running to beat the band. The expression appears in the late 1800s in uses...