Quiz Guy John Chaneski is buying super-personalized presents for his friends and family, all based on each recipient’s first name. For example, John purchased an almanac for Al and some patchouli for his friend Pat. Your job is to guess what gifts...
Don’t show up with your arms swinging is a way of telling a would-be guest not to show up at their hosts’ empty-handed; they should always bring along a gift. Similar admonitions include Ring the door with your elbow and Come with your arms crooked...
Alex in Lexington, Kentucky, is curious about the term sidesaddle gift. It denotes a gift that the giver ends up using at least as much as the recipient does, such as a luggage rack that a frequent guest gives to their host family. The term...
A cumshaw artist is that clever, resourceful person in a military unit who always seems to manage to procure whatever’s needed. This term apparently derives from similar-sounding words in Mandarin, kan hsieh, or kam-si?, in the language spoken...
Clint from Dallas, Texas, recalls a peculiar family tradition for giving birthday presents to a child. A giver would hold a gift over the child’s head and recite: Heavy heavy hangover / Thy poor head / What do you wish this donor? The child was then...
Our conversation about books that sit on your shelves unread and the difficulty of parting with them prompted Jen in Essex, New York, to write about her own attachment to long-outdated field guides because of the memories attached to them. This is...
