Which is correct to describe “a morally upright path” — straight and narrow or straightened arrow? The latter is picturesque, but the vastly more common term is straight and narrow. The original expression was strait and narrow, a reference to a...
Is it correct to toast someone with the words Here, here or Hear, hear? It’s Hear, hear, and it’s short for the imperative Hear him, hear him! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “It’s “Hear, Hear!” Rather Than “Here, Here!”” Hello...
The noun piss, meaning “urine” and the verb piss, “to urinate,” may sound more crass than pee. But it wasn’t always that way. In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, piss appears in the book of Isaiah and pisseth appears in the book of Samuel...
Ben in Richmond, Virginia, is puzzled by the expression Believe you me. It sounds odd because it mixes up the usual subject-verb-object order in English. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Believe You Me” Hello, you have A Way with...
A caller wonders why some versions of the Lord’s Prayer include the phrase “forgive us our trespasses,” while others substitute the word “debt.”