Let’s put the moose on the table: You have questions, and Grant and Martha have answers. For example, why would someone have an albatross around the neck? And what’s so cool about bees’ knees, anyway? Plus, jockey boxes, bailiwicks, and cute names...
A bartender wonders about the origin of the term jockey box. In his world, a jockey box is a metal container for ice. However, in some parts of the western U.S., a jockey box is the glove compartment of a car, and much earlier, the term referred to...
bug n.— «Now that Ms. Studart is no longer an apprentice, her prospects for rides are unclear, especially with more experienced jockeys coming to New York for the summer season. Trainers tend to favor apprentices—nicknamed “bugs” for the asterisks...
Moonbats and wingnuts and sleepovers, oh my! Martha and Grant discuss political slang making the rounds during this election year. Also: Is it duct tape or duck tape? And what are you supposed to put in a jockey box?
Gabriel, near Baltimore, grew up in Utah and startled a Portland friend by asking him to put some papers in the jockey box. The term means a car’s glove compartment or glove box, and it turns up especially in Idaho and Utah, with some wider...
push-button adj.— «Jockeys like to call horses like Big Brown “push button”—they respond to commands instantly and easily.» —“Preakness laugher leaves Big Brown in line for glory” by Pat Forde ESPN.com May 18, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued...
