The phrase old as Methuselah describes someone quite advanced in years. In ancient scripture, Methuselah was a man who somehow lived to the ripe old age of 969. Plus, a heartwarming book for children tells the story of how a Puerto Rican family...
Christine in Denver, Colorado, is pondering the etiquette of correcting someone’s pronunciation. How do you approach knowing the actual pronunciation of a word, when it’s not the most common one? For example, Christine learned that the...
On the game show Um, Actually, the host reads out a series of supposed facts about various geeky subjects, and contestants must interject with the correct information, prefacing their answers with the phrase Um, Actually. That’s the inspiration for...
Why do we say that someone who’s especially fortunate is endowed with the luck of the Irish? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The So-Called Luck of the Irish” Hi there. You have A Way with Words. Hey, Martha. This...
Katya in Jacksonville, Florida, says her German-speaking parents think that when someone expresses a wish, it’s hilarious to respond with the German saying Wenn Oma Räder hätte, wäre sie ein Omnibus, which means “If Grandma had wheels...
Eddie in Queens, New York, wonders why we use the phrase That’s bananas! to describe something wacky. What’s so funny about bananas? There is no single clear origin for why we use “bananas” to mean “crazy,” “wild,” or “nonsensical.” The strongest...