Today’s most popular dog names are Max and Bella. In the Middle Ages, though, dogs would answer to names like Amiable. Or Nosewise. Or even … Clench. ? Is the term redneck derogatory? Some folks proudly claim that name. They say it’s high time they...
Insure in the US Constitution’s preamble, as in to insure domestic tranquility, isn’t a mistake. Tim from Nashville noticed that modern usage often reserves insure for financial protection against loss and ensure for making certain something...
Football, like most sports, brings its own set of idioms and jargon that ride the line between cleverness and cliche. The adjective multiple describes a player, an offense or defense, or even a whole team that has multiple threats or talents. And a...
Marie in Anna, Texas, grew up hearing her mother announce, Home again, home again, jiggity-jig at the end of every family trip. The phrase comes from a Mother Goose rhyme: “To market, to market, to buy a fat pig, home again, home again, jiggity-jig...
There’s been a lot of talk about the place of handwriting in the digital age. Grant has some great books to recommend on the subject: Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry, and Handwriting in America: A Cultural History by Tamara Thornton...
When someone admiringly called a woman “outspoken,” Dorothy Parker is said to have cynically replied, “Outspoken by whom?” Well, according to quoteinvestigator.com, the line pre-dates Parker’s quip. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
