Mindy from Crescent, Iowa, grew up hearing about Herman, the son of her mother’s fearsome great aunt Julia, referred to as the woods colt. That phrase is a euphemism for “a child born out of wedlock.” Mindy’s mother said there was a man thought to...
Julie in Fort Pierce, Florida, recalls that on sweltering days her mother would declare the weather was hotter than Billy Blue Blazes! The word blazes is a euphemism for “hell,” as in hot as blazes. The blue in blue blazes has long been used as an...
Why does the term vegetarian cause so much confusion? Some people assume it means avoiding red meat but still eating chicken. And is there a term for a vegetarian who also eats fish and poultry? Plus, screwball comedies from the 1930s mix slapstick...
So you think you can spell? Youngsters in modern spelling bees are expected to memorize a wide range of words, from chemical processes to names of rare animals. Also: In many languages, the word for “mother” begins with the letter M —...
There’s no evidence that anyone named Sam Hill inspired the phrase What in the Sam Hill? It’s almost certainly just a euphemism for What in the hell? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “”What in the Sam...
Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers...
