In the Private Voices corpus of American Civil War letters, soldiers use pill and pills for bullets, including Lincoln’s pills and Abe’s pills. The slang is far older than the Civil War. Pill referred to cannonballs by at least the 1600s and to...
Remember Tom Swifties, those puns where the adverb matches the quote? How about this one: “I love reading Moby-Dick,” Tom said superficially. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “More Tom Swifties” Grant, I come...
thunder run n. a high-speed military convoy using offensive tactics and heavy weaponry to reach a destination; generally, a route or trip involving extreme effort or danger. Editorial Note: This term dates from at least as early as the Vietnam War...
cannonball Sunday n.— «On these great festivals of the Christian faith, churches are crowded, often to overflowing while on some other Sundays the exact opposite is true. In fact, the Sundays after these great festivals are sometimes referred to as...