Mark from Lewiston, Texas, remembers old cartoons where a someone would roll down the window of a car and yell at a pokey motorist, Sunday driver! But why Sunday as opposed to any other day of the week? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript...
A Cincinnati, Ohio, high school mascot, the Redskins, is in dispute. What’s the origin of the word redskin, and is it a derogatory term or an homage to Native Americans? The adults seem to be arguing past each other, but maybe the students...
Saul, a law enforcement officer in San Diego, wonders how pig became an insult for police, along with offshoots like bacon. The police sense shows up by the early 1800s, growing out of an older use of pig for someone seen as disagreeable, greedy, or...
Zach from Plano, Texas, watched the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. In it, a protegé of the star sushi chef ends a long explanation about how much he’s learned from his mentor by saying, “I don’t sleep with my feet in his direction.” What does...
Karina in Jackson, Wyoming, wonders why a useful little hardware fastener became an insult. The political wingnut is a shortening of right-wing nut, with nut meaning someone thought to be out of their head or lacking common sense, the same idea as...
Emily in Fort Worth, Texas, asks why a peanut is called goober, and why her sister uses the same word for homemade peanut butter and jelly swirled together. Goober comes from African languages, apparently including Bantu languages of Central and...
