Pam in New York City wonders if bidding someone farewell with toodle-oo or toodle-loo derives from the French expression à tout à l’heure, “see you soon.” The French connection is plausible, but the English form appears earlier than World War II...
Ryan at Camp Pendleton, a Marine who has served aboard Navy vessels, wonders why Navy noncommissioned leaders are called petty officers when their work is anything but petty. Here petty is the rank-and-size sense inherited from French petit, small...