A young listener wonders: Why do the words icing and frosting both refer to the idea of being cold? The names for this sweet cover on a cake refer to its appearance, not its temperature. Something similar occurs with the glaze in glazed doughnut...
The adjective buccal refers to “pertaining to the cheek,” as in a buccal muscle of the face. The Latin word for “cheek” bucca also led to Latin buccula, “the cheek strap of a metal helmet,” then to a...
Jim from Abilene, Texas, says his Pennsylvania-born mother, used to bake a molasses-based tart called shoofly pie. The name most likely derives from the action of shooing away flies attracted to the sweet, sticky dessert. Found primarily in her home...
Japanese betsubara literally means other stomach: that mysteriously available space for something special after an otherwise filling meal. English speakers often call the same phenomenon a dessert stomach, the one that still has room for brownies...
Julianne in San Diego wondered why people say desert island instead of deserted island. In that phrase, desert keeps an older sense, meaning “wild and uninhabited.” A desert island can be lush and green, like the island in The Swiss Family Robinson...
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...