If something is saucered and blowed, it’s completed. The expression derives from an old tradition of pouring a bit of boiling coffee or tea into a deep saucer, and blowing on the liquid to make it cool enough to drink. This is part of a...
Addie in Neenah, Wisconsin, seeks the origin of a word her grandfather used for gunk that gets stuck, such as a bit of food between one’s teeth. The dialectal term is likely ackempucky, which, according to the Dictionary of American Regional...
Judy in Miami, Florida, wonders how the expression squeaky clean came to mean spotless, whether literally or metaphorically. At least as early as the 1930s, the squeaky clean referred to hair that was so free of oil and dirt it makes a squeaking...
spit-take n. an exaggerated or surprised reaction in which someone violently expels a mouthful of liquid. Editorial Note: Thanks to Margaret Lethbridge Çejku for suggesting today’s entry. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
speed juice n.— «Until yesterday I’d never had the chance to add liquid nitrogen—or speed juice, as my overclocking buddies and I have for years referred to it—to the mix.» —“Bringing the Antarctic to the processor” by...
penta-millionaire n.— «There’s also been a steep rise in the number of what Phoenix refers to as “penta-millionaire” households—those with at least $5 million in liquid assets. There are now 755,000 of them, up 47 percent...