Amy in Bozeman, Montana, grew up hearing her parents say “Coventry” on noisy family road trips, meaning “be quiet,” often followed by “and fold your hands.” The family usage may be related to the British expression send to Coventry, meaning “to...
Quincy from Bozeman, Montana, wonders how burritos came to be named with a Spanish word that means “little donkey.” In Spanish, the meaning of burro has also extended from “donkey” to “sawhorse.” In the case of...
Is it a pitched battle or a pitch battle? Originally, a pitched battle was conducted according to traditional rules of warfare, which called for combat in a prearranged time and place. The pitch in this term has to do with positioning, in much the...
Lindy from Bozeman, Montana, grew up hearing her father call cocktail time at the family’s summer cabins horning hour, a kind of private happy hour for the drinkers on a beach where some neighbors abstained. The phrase hasn’t turned up in the...
Travis in Bozeman, Montana, wonders why awesome feels positive while awful is negative, even though both come from awe. Awful is the older word, going back at least a thousand years, when it meant “full of awe,” commanding respect or reverential...
The French have a musical term for paperclip. They call it le trombone. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Le Trombone” Grant, remember when we were talking about the French term for pie chart? Yeah, but I don’t...