A die-hard fan of television’s Mad Men is puzzled when Don calls Betty a “Main Line brat.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Main Line Brat” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, my name’s Lisa...
There’s a story going around that the word posh derives from “Port Out, Starboard Home.” Don’t fall for it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Posh” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
Quiz Guy Greg Pliska shares a puzzle in verse, challenging the hosts to fill in the blanks with words that differ by just one letter. Like this: “I never count ___ when I’m going to ___; that method does not work for me. Right around...
Instead of saying “Good-bye” or “So long,” a Hoosier says, his great-grandfather used to say, “Don’t leave your endgate up.” What’s up with that? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Bogart, meaning to hog or monopolize something, does trace back to actor Humphrey Bogart. The verb first meant to bully or intimidate, as in forcing your way into a club, and dates to about the 1950s. By the late 1960s it had shifted toward taking...
Bruce in Indianapolis heard older Indiana farm folks use work-brickle for someone who’s industrious, or, in the negative, not much of a worker. The expression goes back to dialects of the British Isles and survives in U.S. pockets with shifting...