If someone has overegged the pudding, they’ve overstated the case. This may explain why a lawyer from Lawrence, Kansas, found the phrase in a judicial opinion. This is part of a complete episode.
A Japanese idiom, referring to someone who takes credit for another’s work, translates as “doing sumo in someone else’s underwear.” This is part of a complete episode.
Grant shares some familiar proverbs that supposedly arose from African-American English. The book he mentions is Dictionary of American Proverbs by Wolfgang Mieder. This is part of a complete episode.
Good poetry is even better when you read it aloud. For his anthology, Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky selected works with just that in mind. Martha and Grant discuss a poem from the...
Instead of crying “uncle,” an Indiana woman’s family cries calf-rope! She wonders if this expression of submission is unique to her family. This is part of a complete episode.
Ahoy! In this week’s brand-spankin’-new episode: Great gifts for language lovers, nerds vs. geeks, “tow the line” vs. “toe the line,” the slang term “poutrage,” and the crust in the corners of your...