Well, shut my mouth and call me Shirley! Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! Kurt in Grand Rapids shares several of these humorous imperatives. The roots of this snowclone, a reusable phrase template of the form do X to me and call me Y, probably...
A Texas caller wonders about the origin and meaning of the term ultracrepidarian. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Ultracrepidarian” Hi, you have A Way with Words. Hi, I’m Patrick Wilson from Dallas, Texas. Well...
Good night, nurse! is an old-fashioned exclamation for surprise, disbelief, or frustration, and Debbie in Dallas, Texas, uses it as a cussword substitute. An early example dates to 1908, close to British lexicographer Eric Partridge’s estimate of...
You’ve just read a terrific paperback novel. Would you feel any differently about it if you’d the same words on the glowing screen of an electronic book? Martha and Grant discuss the social and psychological implications of books that...
A caller remembers an odd phrase from her childhood. If she asked too many questions, her mother would brush them off with the phrase “layers for meddlers and crutches for lame ducks.” Say what? This is part of a complete episode...
