To noodle meaning “to think on” is so-named because it from noddle, an old word for “head,” and not because a brain looks like a clump of pasta noodles. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “To Noodle with Your Noddle” Hi...
English spelling is a hot mess, even for native speakers. But as a new book shows, would-be spelling reformers, including Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, eventually just gave up. Also, what do you call your fellow parent in front of the...
In this week’s brain teaser from Quiz Guy John Chaneski, each clue involves switching the first and last sounds of a word to form a new word. In the case of the word look, for example, swapping those initial and final sounds leaves you with...
Emily in East Tennessee grew up hearing her West Tennessee father say someone who did something clever had got melon. That likely works because melon is a familiar slang comparison for the human head, the place where the brains are. English has a...
Aeneas in Las Cruces, New Mexico, describes his family’s traditional way of razzing someone who just had a haircut. They shout Rinctums! (also spelled Rinktums!), and proceed to give the person a rough knuckle-rubbing on the back of their...
The Spanish word for “sunroof,” that opening in the top of a car, is quemacocos, which has a picturesque origin. Coco is a slang term for “head,” from the resemblance between that body part and a coconut. And the Spanish word quemar means “to burn.”...