Ty in Nashville, Tennessee, has fond memories of his dad handing him what he called folding money. This term simply refers to bills, rather than coins. Other versions include folding dough, folding stuff, folding matter, folding green, folding...
Scartle is an old Scots word meaning to scrape together little bits of things, like picking the coins and crumbs out of a car seat. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Scartle” Scartle Myrtle You’re doing a word...
The saying a bad penny always turns up has been turning up in English since the 15th century, when counterfeit pennies would often surface in circulation. As pennies have lost their luster, the phrase has lived on; see the line “Don, my bad...
Why do we have piggy banks instead of any other kind of farm animal banks? In Scotland and Northern England, a kind of Middle Ages earthenware container called pygg. Today we fill our piggs, or piggy banks, with coins. This is part of a complete...
Martha explains the origin of the word coin, as in “to coin a phrase.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Etymology of Coin” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Noah Taylor calling from Seneca, South...
You might have heard Brits say “I’m going to spend a penny” when they have to visit the loo. The hosts discuss the reason for this phrase, and other euphemisms for making a trip to the toilet, such as “I’m going to...