John in Omaha, Nebraska, wonders about a phrase that encourages someone to attend an event or risk being left out or feeling uncool: be there or be square. Don’t fall for the fake etymology about people wearing boxes on their heads! Ditto for this...
In response to our discussion about pangrams, a listener in Bishop, California, offers a 59-letter one: Funk revival jazz band played exciting three-quarter tempo waltzes. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pangram Jazz Waltz” Here’s...
Trombonist Benjamin Jacobs-El, who toured with jazz great Lionel Hampton, calls from Huntsville, Alabama, to say that Hampton regularly addressed friends and band members as gate, as in Hey, gates, how’re you doing? Is that because good jazz swings...
Why is vanilla associated with blandness? When this flavor was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century, it was considered a delicacy. Thomas Jefferson came upon it during a stay in France and helped popularize it in the United States...
John from San Diego, California, grew up hearing be-bopping for wandering from place to place, running around, or going about without much of a plan. The expression, also shortened to bopping, appears to draw on bebop and jazz slang, with the same...
We were invited by Huntsville, Alabama, public radio station WLRH to do a live appearance at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. During the Q&A, a listener shared a version of the phrase If I tell you a hen dips snuff, you can look under its wing (and...
