Michelle in Williamsburg, Virginia, wonders about the origin of alley-oop!, which she says when hoisting her toddler. It’s from French allez, the imperative of aller meaning “to go” and houp or hop, an onomatopoeic utterance made while expending...
Nancy in Aurora, Colorado, asks: Is there a better term for one’s adult offspring than childrenor kids. The list of expressions she’s pondered includes adult child, progeny, offspring, man-child, woman-child, descendant, successor, scion, offshoot...
If you’re going up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire, then you’re going up to bed. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Up the Hill to Bedfordshire, Down the Hall to the Cannes?” Grant, I was pleased recently to learn the term wooden...
Our conversation about the phrase I beg your pardon reminded Patricia in Greenville, North Carolina, of a playground taunt from her childhood. If one kid said I beg your pardon, another would respond I grant your grace, I hope the cat will spit in...
The 1955 book An Episode of Sparrows (Bookshop|Amazon) tells the story of life on a small street in post-war London, largely through the eyes of children. Author Rumer Godden grew up in India and what later became Bangladesh, and her writing...
Mia in Sumter, South Carolina, wonders: Is there a better term than adult child to describe one of your children who’s now a grownup? It’s hard to come up with a better, one-word expression for one’s adult offspring, and words such as spawn...