Jonah, a music teacher, in Baltimore, Maryland, shares a funny story about a student who misunderstood his question about the capital of his home state. That left Jonah wondering about the difference between the words capital and capitol. The former...
Rick calls from Rouses Point, New York, to ask about the etymology of the phrase to hang for a sheep as for a lamb, meaning to go for broke or to go all out. The answer involves the old tradition of capital punishment for poaching animals. Given the...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game about funny softball team names. For example, the real-life name of the Whitney Museum’s employee softball team? Why, they’re the Whitney Houstons, of course. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Funny...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a puzzle called “Categorical Allies.” After he says a word, you must come up with second word that’s in the same category, and begins with the last two letters of the original word. For example, if he says “Sampras,” then...
A woman having an affair with a married man is a mistress. So what’s the word for an unmarried man who’s having an affair with a married woman? Consort? Leman? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Male Mistress” Hello, we have A Way...
dry powder n.—Gloss: Capital readily available for investment. «Capital available for secondary deals—what the industry calls dry powder—is about $12 to $15 billion, said Small, whose company manages some $4.2 billion of secondaries.» —“ANALYSIS...
