To go gangbusters is to “perform well and vigorously” or “act with energy and speed,” as in an economy going gangbusters. The term recalls the swift aggression of 1930’s police forces decisively breaking up criminal...
What do you call that force that keeps you lounging on the couch rather than get up the energy to go outdoors? A listener calls it house gravity. This is part of a complete episode.
When does a word’s past make it too sensitive to use in the present? In contra dancing, there’s a particular move that dancers traditionally call a gypsy. But there’s a growing recognition that many people find the term gypsy...
When someone urges you to put some mustard on it, they want you to add some energy and vigor. It’s a reference to the piquancy of real, spicy mustard, and has a long history in baseball. This is part of a complete episode.
Someone should write a love letter to a new book called Letters of Note. It’s a splendid collection of all kinds of correspondence through the ages: Elvis Presley fans writing to the president, children making suggestions to famous...
cap-and-traitor n.— «Could somebody please explain the difference between people on the Right calling the eight GOP congressmen who voted for the Obama-Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade anti-global warming energy bill “cap and...