You bet your sweet bippy! meaning “Definitely!” comes from a large cache of catchphrases from the TV variety series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, which was wildly popular in the late 1960s. The bippy in this case was a euphemism for “butt.” Other...
The television show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-I n,” popular in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, was famous for awarding its goofy trophy, the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate. But the term fickle finger of fate is actually decades older than that. This...
Why do some puns strike us as clever, while others are plain old groaners? Martha and Grant puzzle over this question. Also, the difference between baggage and luggage, a royal word quiz, the “egg” in egg on, what to call someone who doesn’t eat...
Where’d we get the expression “You bet your sweet bippy!”? It’s from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, a zany television show from the late 1960s. The word bippy, by the way, means “butt.” The phrase “You bet your sweet bippy” is a linguistic descendant of...
sneak and peek attrib.— «Senator Russ Feingold disclosed figures showing the Justice Department used PATRIOT Act authority to request hundreds of so-called “sneak and peek” warrants authorizing secret break-ins into US homes and businesses. Of 763...
squeeze page n.— «Once someone has visited your site, they will often encounter what is known in marketing terms as a “squeeze page.” How it got that name, I’m not sure, but a squeeze page is really just a pop-up box or page that invites readers to...