Claire from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shares a phrase dear to her late friend. Her friend was known for saying since Christ left Philadelphia, meaning “a very long time ago.” This expression fits a well-worn pattern of comic hyperbole using...
Sarah Jane in Tucson, Arizona, recalls hearing the phrase out where God lost his galoshes for any far-flung, hard-to-reach place. Similar phrases include where God left his overshoes, where Jesus lost his sandals, where Jesus lost his cap, where...
Chad in Hilliard, Florida, wonders about the expression old as Methuselah, meaning “extremely advanced in years.” The phrase references Methuselah, a figure in Jewish, Islamic, and Christian tradition said to be 969 years old when he finally gave up...
MaryAnne from Dallas, Texas, says that sometimes when she or her siblings asked her father how much he spent on something he’d answer A buck three-eighty. It’s one of many similar expressions that allow the speaker to give an approximate answer or...
A month of Sundays, meaning “a long period,” or “longer than I can actually figure out,” goes at least as far back as the 1759 book The Life and Real Adventures of Hamilton Murray. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of “A...
If you’re looking for a clever way to straddle the glass-half-empty line, try using litotes, or understated slights turned positive. For example, the guy you met for a blind date was really not unattractive. This is part of a complete episode...