In Norway, the idiom pling i bollen, or literally, “a pinging sound in a bowl,” describes someone “empty-headed” or “stupid.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pinging Bowl” Music...
Iris from Cave Junction, Oregon, wonders about the expressions get on the stick, meaning to get going, and piping hot, meaning extremely hot. While some have associated the phrase get on the stick with an automotive gearshift, sometimes known as a...
Scott in La Jolla, California, grew up hearing older relatives say something like hock me a chinik when kids were noisy, pestering, or full of questions. That family phrase traces to the Yiddish Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik, with many variants, all...
Turkey vultures spotted on a hike in San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park lead to a small feast of collective nouns for turkey vultures. A group in a tree can be a committee, a venue, or a volt. In flight, it’s a kettle, and when feasting on...
Before you turn up your nose at the expression “ass over teakettle,” know that our first evidence for this phrase is in William Carlos Williams’ story “White Mule.” A great idiom from a great writer. Other topsy-turvy...
kettle n.— «It was obvious by now that people were not going anywhere until the two men were freed. So more reinforcements were brought in and surrounded the protest in what is known as a “kettle.” They soon managed to push...