In French, there are colloquialisms translating to “the mayonnaise is setting” and “to make the mayonnaise rise.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Mayonnaise is Setting” While we were talking...
Eudora Welty dropped the phrase man in the moon a couple times in her short story “Why I Live at the P.O.” The phrase doesn’t really reference the moon itself; it simply adds emphasis. Incidentally, seeing the image of a face or...
If you can make neither moss nor sand of something, then if you can’t make sense of it. This phrase is particularly common in Northern England. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Neither Moss Nor Sand” We were...
What’s the difference between champing at the bit and faunching at the bit? Champing, or chomping, means you’re pumped up and ready to go, while faunching — more common in the Southwest — implies more anger and frustration. This is part...
Are you left hanging by the invitation “Do you want to come with?” A Milwaukee native is proud of this regionalism, which means “Do you want to come along?” Grant explains that it may be related to the German verb mitkommen...
If Sam and them are going to be here after while, can the “and them” mean just one additional person? In some parts of the country, it could be Sam’s wife, or Sam’s entire softball team. A listener from Texas shares this...

