Sarah in Fleming Island, Florida, is curious about the saying sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you, which suggests “it’s a dog-eat-dog world,” or “eat or be eaten,” or more gently, “you win...
Ryan from West Bolton, Vermont, who grew up on a farm, wonders if the noun harrow, meaning a “farm implement used for breaking up dirt” and the adjective harrowing, meaning “extremely painful” are etymologically related...
What’s the origin of the phrase “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise”? It has to do with travel and farming and nothing whatsoever to do with Native Americans. Back when wagons rode on low gravel roads, you couldn’t...
You may remember the call we had from Tony in Encinitas, California. He was curious about the term for an unusual hazing ritual.
shack farming n.— «Municipalities would be able to demolish the shack and thus continue our national effort to eradicate slums. The act also ends what is commonly called “shack farming,” which is when people invade land and...
wovit n.— «Godwin provided plenty of colorful examples of the gradual disintegration of the farming system in Zimbabwe as the war vets or “wovits,” as they are called, grab land from the rightful owners.» —“Journalist...