The Oregon town names Ragic and Ekoms are anadromes; backwards they spell Cigar and Smoke. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Backward Town Names” By the way, grant, speaking of anadromes, those words that form different...
Lucy, a middle-school student in San Diego, California, is puzzled by a phrase her mother uses when something is not quite up to snuff or falls short of the mark: close, but no tomato. It appears to be a variant of close, but no cigar, a phrase...
Charlie Pierce of Devon, England, describes the UK tradition of wetting the baby’s head, a pub outing for a new or expectant father before the baby arrives. Friends buy the rounds, and the father-to-be is not supposed to pay for any of them. The...
The saying “close but no cigar” comes from the famous carnival game wherein a bold fellow tries to swing a sledgehammer hard enough to make a bell ring. The winner of the game, which was popular around 1900, would win a cigar. The game...
Smoking cigars is sometimes known as herfing, and a herf is a lively gathering of like-minded puffers. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Herfing” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, Grant and Martha. This is Blake in...