Nancy in Aurora, Colorado, asks: Is there a better term for one’s adult offspring than childrenor kids. The list of expressions she’s pondered includes adult child, progeny, offspring, man-child, woman-child, descendant, successor...
You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojalá is especially handy for expressing hopefulness and derives from Arabic for “God willing.” In Trinidad, if you want to ask...
Amanda in Tucson, Arizona, dislikes the phrase kill two birds with one stone and wants to popularize a non-violent alternative: feed two birds with one seed. An Alaska listener once suggested the phrase save two birds with one stone, perhaps...
Chances are you recognize the expressions Judgment Day and root of all evil as phrases from the Bible. There are many others, such as the powers that be and bottomless pit, which both first appeared in scripture. • There’s a term for when the...
Hannah from Shreveport, Louisiana, is curious about Cooter Brown, a name she’s often heard applied to someone behaving mischievously. Cooter Brown shows up in several expressions, including drunk as Cooter Brown, high as Cooter Brown, and fast...
Jeff in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is married to a woman from Barcelona who grew up speaking British English. She pointed out to him his use of the word of with the preposition off, as in Take the book off of the table or Let’s get off of the...