The expression to turn on a dime means “to change quickly.” Early on the phrase referred to horses or horse-drawn vehicles and later to motorized ones, and suggested the idea of changing direction quickly and easily without needing a large turning...
A civil engineer in Boston, Massachusetts, is puzzled by part of an assignment to design a driveway that traverses a stream to access a proposed development. The wetlands scientist he’s working with informed him that he’d need to design the thalweg...
Nancy from Berthold, North Dakota, used the expression two bits to mean “25 cents.” Her adult daughter had heard neither that expression nor the saying Shave and a haircut, two bits or the cheer Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar. The story...
An old version of the heads or tails coin toss is cross or pile or cross and pile. That’s because an old English coin was marked with a cross on one side and pile meant the back of a coin. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Cross and...
Store clerks: If someone asks for a case quarter in change, it means they don’t want two dimes and a nickel or five nickels. They want a single 25-cent piece. Same for a case dollar, case dime, or case nickel. The customer is asking for a single...
If you ask a salesclerk for change in the form of a case quarter, what are you asking for? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Case Quarter” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Beverly calling from Midlopie in Texas...
