Following up on our conversation about the phrase good enough for who it’s for, referring to something that wasn’t done perfectly but was nevertheless good enough, a Clarinda, Iowa, listener shares a similar phrase he used when doing construction...
The casual phrase good enough for who it’s for suggests that something wasn’t done perfectly, but was done well enough. This saying is not all that common, but it’s been around for at least a century. Similar expressions used in the construction...
You’ve seen this guy before: the older gent who strolls around at construction sites, asking questions, offering suggestions, and kibitizing about the activities there. The Italian dictionary Lo Zingarelli (Amazon) recently added the handy neologism...
Jason in San Antonio, Texas, is curious why the term salamander is applied to small heater on a construction site. In ancient lore, the mythical beast called a salamander was impervious to fire. Later salamander was applied to various heating...
Since the 1930’s the term “punch list” has referred to a list of things to do, or a list of problems to fix. Although there are many proposed explanations for the origin of this term, none is definitive. This is part of a complete episode...
Matt from Noblesville, Indiana asks why contractors describe a complete, turnkey quote as soup to nuts. The expression means “the whole thing” or “from beginning to end,” and it comes from an old-fashioned meal that began with soup and ended with...