Quiz Guy John Chaneski presents a puzzle about fanciful sequels to real movies. John proposes new movies using a synonym of each of two words in a real title. For example, Vulgar Velour would be the title of what remake? This is part of a complete...
Meg says that when she was growing up near Boston, Massachusetts, her dad used to entertain kids with a phrase that sounded like Ish biddly oten doten bobo ba deeten dotten wanotten shhhhh! That’s most likely adapted from a camp song from the 1950s...
Claire from Wilmington, North Carolina, wants to know the origin of the phrase “sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” She heard a story she heard about the saying having to tightening ropes that support mattresses, which is not the origin...
Skinflint, meaning stingy or tight-fisted, comes from the idea that someone’s so frugal they would try to skin a piece of the extremely hard rock called flint. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Skinflint” Hello, you have A Way with...
Here’s a variant of a phrase that’s familiar to many African-Americans, but virtually unknown to most others: “I’m so broke I couldn’t buy a louse a wrestling jacket.” What’s its meaning and origin? It’s also heard “buy a flea a wrestling jacket” or...
flea n.— «A flea, in the parlance of medical students, is an internal medicine resident. And, by way of further explanation—here’s where the pejorative nature comes into play—a flea is “the last thing off a dying dog.”» —“ I dub thee…Sir Flea the...
