Ryan in Ketchikan, Alaska, heard two friends say they’d come to his museum exhibit opening dressed in bells, a playful twist on the much more common with bells on. The usual phrase means showing up eagerly, ready to add to the fun, not merely...
Gerald from Gaspee Point, Rhode Island, wants to know the story behind the term dashboard. Originally a dashboard was wood or leather placed at the front in horse-drawn vehicles to keep the driver and passengers from being dashed with mud, water, or...
The Snickers candy bar was named after a beloved family horse. The sugar-shelled chocolates called M&Ms take their name from a combination of the initials of their inventors, Forrest Mars and Bruce Murray. This is part of a complete episode...
On our Facebook group, listeners discuss sayings that people use when they’re sitting around a campfire and smoke comes their way. Among them: I hate rabbits, I hate little white bunny rabbits, smoke follows the tenderfoot, and smoke follows...
Several phrases have stuck around long after a time when horses were much more common in daily life. They include don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, which is a warning not to expect a gift too closely, and straight from the horse’s...
Bob from Rockford, Illinois, recalls that forty years ago when he was in the Navy, his instructors would stamp their foot to emphasize a particular point that might be on the test later. They referred to this action as horsing up the students, and...