If you’re nibbling on slippery Jims or sipping sweet soup, chances are you’re in the Badger State. It’s the language of Wisconsin — explained at last. Also, the famous abolitionist whose name became an exclamation, and how to respond if someone...
Another overly optimistic query to the book agent at SlushPile Hell reads in part: “My dog has written a book on how to be a success.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Dog Wrote a Book” Another query letter from the website...
News reports that the makers of Scrabble were changing the rules to allow proper names left some purists fuming. The rumors were false, but they got Grant thinking about idiosyncratic adaptations of the game’s rules. Also this week, the origins of...
Who is Boo-Boo the Fool? A listener wonders if this African-American character has any relation the Puerto Rican fool, Juan Bobo. Martha draws a connection to the Spanish term bobo, meaning “fool,” and its Latin root balbus, meaning “stammerer”...
Several decades ago, the expression tickety-boo was commonly used to mean “all in order,” “correct,” or “just dandy.” Although it’s rarely heard, a caller who once lived in Florida says her boss there often used it. Does it derive from Hindi? If you...
A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word.