If something pales in comparison to something else, the reference is to its intensity decreasing next to something even brighter. The pale in this case is unrelated to the one in beyond the pale, which has to do with territory marked by a literal...
The German word Zaunkönig means “wren,” but literally translates as “king of the fence.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Zaunkönig, King of the Fence” The German word zahn means a fence or a hedge and the German word kunig means...
How wide are the gaps between your teeth? Wide enough to “eat corn on the cob through a picket fence?” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Eating Corn through a Picket Fence” Kat emailed us and called us about a phrase that she likes...
The old Brooklyn Dodger Roy Campanella really knew how to set the soup outside! A baseball fan recalls this overheard phrase from a game in the 60s between the Cardinals and the Dodgers, when Campy smacked one over the fence. Grant speculates this...
Like mushrooms in fallen leaves, new words keep popping up overnight. Also, is there an English word that means “the in-laws of your son or daughter“? And what does it mean when someone says, “Well, that was odder than Dick’s hatband!”?
jumping visa n.— «Two Vietnamese detainees escaped from Maribyrnong Detention Centre on Saturday and a third broke his leg trying to jump the fence yesterday. The two scaled the facility’s fence following a volleyball game. “They got a jumping...